Teen Titans: The Chaos Round Arc- Disaster Arc - Part One
by Inkblot24
Summary: Aiden Grayson is still trapped in the past with a Director Reubin, who is actually the dragon trying to kill our Chosen's chances at having the red king finally redeem himself. Agatha heard a voice whisper of 'chaos' in the last chapter. What will become of Nigtwing and his allies? What is Cecilia Daia hiding? Get ready for some messy Chaos served extra , in this Disaster Arc; One.
1. Chapter 1

Teen Titans ; The Manifesto Pages- Storyteller Arc-Part Two; Chapter 23: Through these Iron Bars- Dire Consequence.

/

Ok! La Llorona is not evil per-se, she is the equivalent of a wraith or woman consumed by hurt and grief for the loss of love and her loathing is intense. Yet the dragon is going to need all the help he can get. Being a summoner, sorcerer, false- king, dead king and murderer to top it all off, Roku; as this supposed 'Director Reubin' is just going into phase one of his plan to convince Aiden that this lizard is not worth converting to the side of good.

So then, who was the little boy who resembled Raku from the dragon's tragic beginnings as a demi god and son to a powerful Djinn lord? Is Aiden right? Can he find he missing piece in order to change the god's fire back to a Flicker of hope ? Find out before a quick spoiler epilogue of the latest arc to come- The Chaos Round Arc- Disaster Arc Part One . It also maaay be rated M to reduce writer's block, don't worry and let me know if I should fire at will on that idea. On with the ending so far…

/

The sky looked grim , devoid of a way back and most of all, a reason to end this charade once and for all.

Robin of San Diego in the year; nineteen eighty seven , was still gripping a back alley wall for support. He could hear some screaming, as if he were being haunted again by that strange figure..in the corners of his young fifteen year old mind. Robin coughed, thinking he had eaten a bad, old pot of the deli owner's coffee. Though it couldn't be from the shot of caffeine. He looked off down the pathway as if reaching the end of a long, winding tunnel. He paused and looked at his shaking weathered fingers as if this was it.

That was when until, a gust of freezing wind pulled the teenager from his attempted –

(Ehem! He was contemplating ending his own life or turning himself in, to clarify those gruesome details. Kid was running away, he might have ended up in a bad place – recalling that this alternate Rokuro is a meta- human until the teen titans' story becomes his shelter decades later.

The hauntingly bizarre scenario of a boy running, rushing right down that street where he knelt in shock- a woman in the air! Her spectral form was astral- bound, hovering above, letting out a shriek of cries that filled the foreboding night sky…

The teen running looked excited, even frustrated that he was about to crash-

Ahh!" The boy in his grey hooded sweater and black long jeans fell into the alleyway, cornered with the new blonde haired rookie looking down on him. They were cornered as the wraith woman dove in to drag her next victim up into the clouds, though something snapped inside the run away Robin. His eyes turned white as his vision became something unnaturally intense.

"STOP!" A meta- human pulsing aura of light crowned the boy's head as he screamed for the being above to seize her angry assaults on the strange kid, who had knocked Aiden out as a result of his unapologetic powers. Roku as Director Reubin saw that light only blocks over from his parking space, the boy was ready . He nudged the driver to hurry, to find the boy's location before something else made this night any more incredibly demanding of his time in California.

Robin, while Aiden was cradling his bruised skull against the ground,he had an idea of what that light was…

~ He's gotta be the dragon…ung..~ The teen lost consciousness as the other boy felt his stomach heave. Robin's brow started to sweat as he passed out while La Llorona transformed and fell to the Earth in a new guise.

The black sedan pulled up in time just as the boys' world had grown too dim to see in the pitch black streets.. A man with a goatee…and glasses where behind them. His eyes were red with a serpent's glare.

"Bring them to the backseat. Sammy!" The director meant what he had intended, yet the go to driver froze at the sight of the young boys being tossed about until they'd entered through the ward's doorways..

"A..h..Is..thi-

" By ANY means." The man gave the other a hard stare, pointing to the sedan' back seat door with a chilling tone in his voice to follow. " By any and EVERY means. We will not let this monster run from our sights again!.."

The director turned then to warn the driver. They had to return with the subjects, before a certain goddess caught wind of the king's meddling..

/

Now, back where Roko had devised a way to snuff out her enemies for good in her dear king's absence, the daemon being used what magic she had left to keep Marcus from waking. The ice princess was on her way, with some company from the heavenly spirit domain.

"I have some gall left to strip you of an escape route." Roko looked around , seeing that it was..just her damned imagination. Great! She was as delusional as the –

"To your right, fallen kindred." The face of a wicked blonde with her face determined voice low, Roko gasped and stepped back. "The, no…You are the priestess." She sniffed. "What do you have in keeping to the shadows so long?" The demoness asked.

Thee Catalina Daia. The sorceress of Solaris's long standing cult. Any mastermind was and had been banished by her ability over the gods of olden. Roko stepped back as Catherine turned, her eyes a green that swam within the depths, had seen lights burn on the horizon…Had banish even Roku to another time!

"You are not allowing your life to be led purposefully-

HE IS MY PURPOSE!" Roko shouted as if slapped in the face by that insult to her god. The witch..would be buried for her first time in a new era! Catherine frowned at the obsessed dopple. As much of a mess as the guardians had turned this timeline into, inside out and over again- Roko had believed in him though for the very worst, twisted parts to never leave her side.. The double traitor had to perish if

The Chosen's plan was to work. The tainted being Roko was now, there was no way to change her back…He had already reaped the dopple dry of her innocence long ago. Even Prince Rokuro had not ben able to pull the ashamed creature from her ultimate goals. She was, no longer needed in the grand scheme of reckoning.

"Release the hold you keep now over that faire being encased in glass, or I will be forced to make your walls crumble. King or no king, you are fallen as we know it up in the clouds, to the earth. Now vanish from this-

"I am staying! You'll be dethroned instead sun- witch!"

Roko cackled as she let her powers hit Catherine's covered wrists. "I WILL BANISH THEE, DEMON!"

Roko jumped away as the witch gained back her powers, the kind she'd gladly fought..

"RRAAAHH!" Roko riled up onto her heels a shrieked in pain. Snapping, she was already too far gone. Which meant!-

" Obliterate!" Catherine sent her power of light and fire the demon's way as the lunatic dopple started to laugh, going about the room as if her limbs were cords- she had!..

~ I..am going to destroy you. You , one of the very thorns in my lord's side!~ With the eyes of a killer Roko pounced, throwing herself into the fire. Her wondrous example of her loyalty, was exemplary as she attacked from the ceiling. ~Witch ! Return to your traitorous council now…Or I will gladly send your skull as a warning- May my king be pleased… Now, die FOREVER!~

/

The dripping of a broken faucet…The sound of plip,plip, plip….as Aiden awoke to a room painted white and grey. Not an inch of sunlight touched this space as his eyes bulged open from the sound of a horrid cry down the hall. As if worried for that soul outside his guarded doorway, Aiden Grayson threw himself up against the barred cell. He shouted out for someone to listen. And then all of those occurrences, those thoughts and dreadful feelings pieced themselves back together.

"LETMEGO! II'M NOT CRAZY !HE'S THE ONE! THE ONE WHO'S TRYING TO…aAagh!" The scream ripped past the scared teen's lips as HE was shoved into a block, a cell right beside Aiden's with more stony plaster to keep the teens apart.

As the boy; the kid that weird ghoul had run into.. with his short black hair, buzzed back to help the dragon, Aiden guessed. According to the king's traditions and heritage as a fire breathing anthromorphic asshole, his kids had 'manes' that were long and could not be cut by scissors, only held back or trimmed before their heads ended up hosts all over again to a case of some massive bed head. Aiden watched as the guards came with the other teen in rags, his torn clothing a symbol of his run away teenaged rebellious nature, while his eyes were swollen and puffy from being broken by the cruel director and his cult…

" Here you're gonna be stayin' with us for a long time, until the feds decide if they shut you up or put you down pup!" The man Sammy was long gone. Yet the director's muscle men had the teen to cooperate as they hustled him off to his nice dank, dark cell inside the psych ward's walls. The dark haired boy yelped as the men tossed their new addition into his cell, not caring for a few bruises as long as he wouldn't start a riot under their noses. Aiden watched from his small window before the dragon turned to eye the blonde from-

"You'd be safer if you stayed away from eavesdropping, kid." The man grunted while he made sure that 'Robin' was safely secured inside his new home awhile. Aiden put on a brave face. Just a time bubble.

He had to try to break out of this place or else!

"I know what your game is and I won't pity you..I-

" Most eventually have learned to hate me. You'd best decide if your soul is worth this sort of, pressure."

Aiden huffed, though knew that the dragon had brought them here to make the boy WANT the king dead. He smirked up to the older male ,his hazel eyes hiding something the king would have found incorrigible in fact…

" You've played your hand,but in the end, I'm going to find out your secret-

" And in the end, I am going to break you." The king smiled almost malciously,hoping only Aiden had heard the man through the bars as Robin's cuffs were kept on tight. For any case against meta- human prisoners, one could not be so sure of themselves. Aiden held back a gulp as he swallowed a hard lump was there and it meant business..

Aiden suddenly, noticed how the temperature had risen within his tiny cell, he had started to perspire…oh god…he meant it!? " You….you'd only lose! HEY!" Aiden's chance was cut off as the window latch shut from the outside tiny hole were there but the temperature...Now it was too cold…

"S-sh-shiit!" Aiden shivered and grabbed a 'hallelujeh' blanket by his punctured cot against the wall. He decided to try and get some rest.

The younger boy in the other cell, had been put through the ringer…

"That dragon..cough*…won't kill us..he..is just..a lonely boogieman…" Aiden whispered before finding a second to himself in this, new environment. There was a toilet, a sink but no…nothing else yet the bed he slept on. Hopefully it had been checked for bugs. He shivered harder a the temperature reverted to what it had been upon his rude wake up call.

/

While Aiden had gotten some down time to brood in another time and era, Ava and Chris had walked in on a fateful surprise of their own. Chris reunited with Ava as the two separately took their time to recover and to search telepathically for the sleeping Storyteller, fae boy Marcus.

"Those daemon and deity are nosy to me.." Chris grumbled as the giggling few priestesses had left the duo to aid the other Titans on the next floor. So far another had joined the good fight and Aria was only hoping that Ayane could forgive the daemon siren for inviting herself into the reincarnate's life.

"Be a moment still…aha! Chris?" Ava grinned and turned to her lucky companion. " I know where Roko has Marcus hidden. He's back in the-

" The cat's…" She froze with her mouth gaping open. "Behind!-

Ava was blasted back by a beam of shadows. The figure wanting to ruin such a touching scene was the escaped Charl in his demon winged form.

" Tres' Bien! I am glad to have finally met the, extra sibling…of the chosen!" The ex- knight shot another blast as Christopher reverted to his astral wolf form just on schedule to deflect the blow. "Go! Ava!" Chris tossed the white haired princess away from the fight between him and Charl: the rogue imp.

" WE ARE-

NO!" Chris snapped at the winged animal as it slammed into the astral wolf. He saw stars as Ava opened a portal for herself. He was more a knight than Charl could ever be…Ava smiled warmly to her hero before setting off through vortex in silence.

" Your lady friend won't be joining us?" Charl frowned with his body lifted up in mid- air in the fair sized workroom. " She…is our princess.." Christopher coughed as his wolven form fell away. His immortal body was left to duel the lunatic. " You will say nothing of her, monstrous demon!"

He brought his blade up from its scabbard, it was ready to be wielded with honor, just as Aneiu might now have expected of a hero wishing to redeem himself…He was HER knight! No one could harm the princess of his reincarnate's longing.

~ Lady Reia asked that I return. Christopher was just here to see that. Though now I have enough time to right my many wrongs!~

Charl out a howl, a laugh that mocked the other male's dignity. He was a coward, he …

" No….no..nononono!" The scream that the imp let out rocked the ceiling as he was zapped back to normal size. The culprit being no one from the teen's world. The imp, had disappeared without a trace, as if haunted by his own cowardice.

Christopher heaved a sigh and wiped a drop or two of his own sweat from his silver brows…Ava!

~ I am coming, Princess Ava." Chris reopened a portal in hopes that she'd still be there, waiting as he came to hold her close…they had always been that way. Depending on one another through the hardest trials that life then had to offer.

Now, neither were backing down. Ava was going to be a true warrior under Chris's wing. Ava had to trust that he'd be there at her side for a very, very long time..

(Ok! So, Ava's old classmate Christopher Jean had a health condition and she was not allowed to see him after a while; this remains in these new years part two, Ava is kidnapped by Lilith and ends up ' birthing' the aspect Anya from the arc New Destinations , where Chris has been given another body after his just disappears from existence on Earth – as if he never existed. The reason why Aneiu the white wolf guardian came to bring Chris away, was because he was actually an incomplete vessel predestined to carry the soul of Lady Reia's noble ally. Reia believed that once Ava awakened to her abilities and rites as a royal of the Eternal Snowy Barrens, she would need a tutor or mentor. Sadly, in New Destinations when Ava is forced to return to Earth for aid against a menacing terror, she explains that something took hold of Chris's new body as the supposed teen Wodin after Chris had changed forms, though it was never the case at all. She then finds that Wodin was not the real threat, but a child of Loki's whose aim was to devour the moon deity as dictated in Norse myth...) Continue next line!

(Hati mistakes Ava to be a reincarnation of the deity and attempts to make her into his prize..ich…. His form was of an astral wolf and he had changed Chris's new body, while also deceiving countless deity of the Universal realm. He even found that Anya later had been corrupted by Lilith as she'd returned to free Aiden's dark aspect, thus Apep of Egyptian lore eventually did the most damage to Earth. Aiden's dark aspect however was devoured by Apep so that is why Roku is using Marcus as a vessel once Aiden releases his light. Roku can have the pleasure of devouring or destroying Marcus while Aiden is left an empty shell to mold back into the perfect dark soldier. He'll also be freed of his pact with the light dragon so Roku is trying to pry at Aiden in order to do this, and to get the blonde to acknowledge that the red king is an enemy to forever be damned. Aiden however saw sides to the king in the past that prove that he was coerced by the demon mother Lilith and can be freed from what the spirit beings call the cycle. Hard to break down the ENTIRE arc. Read it so you can see with your own eyes, I say…now! Back to this arc's near ending.

/

The deity women had been busy. So much so that Aria was beginning to develop something close to vertigo by the switching panels within this fun house walled facility. Isa has to carry her ankh out in plain sight around her neck. Ayane finally pointed once the ladies had reached the same door that Cyborg was attempting to pry open. Damian and his group came in as well from the elevator which had been in order to escape a sea od locusts two floors back down. Thankfully Raven was there to clear the air .

" Comrades!" Lorelai in Ayane's body called out though knew to lower her tone as a cautious reminder of the dangers that awaited them. Raven turned her head to see the princess echoing her voice out with Sakurano as a vessel for the moment. She motioned to Nightwing as he threw up a hand as if to usher the group over immediately.

"Almost…hacked lil' Robin! Dang, Richard. Your little bro is a whiz with those gadgets. Bruce musta' had a field day-

" Oh! It is you, Isa and Aria as well, but I feel that this reunion-

" Nothing is strange about it Star, nothin' but this whole funhouse version of Shoji's headquarters. I say THAT is super crazy." Gar received a nod from Kori and a chuckle from Ayane at the same time.

" Amigos, we might as wel-

"Too late to tell em'!" Gar shouted out as Cy ripped back the doorway, finding that a simple hack had not been enough thanks to the extra magic keeping whoever was inside, safe from prying eyes.

Sarah Santiago as Astarte flinched by the power that Nina's old crush still had in him. " Nina says hey by the way. She made it up the rank overnight. A real warrior on the battlefield." The bigger Titan grinned, glad that at least Astarte was watching over her pupil with earnest. " She's earned it. Now we can stop-

"Huh!?" Agatha jumped through the door to find that the rom was torn apart and upside down.

"Aggie, stay back." Kayu instructed as Kaien looked around for an answer amid the debris. " This is…-

"Wait!" Ayane pushed past Nightwing and went over to examine the wrecked workspace for herself. " Takahara's main office…It has been destroyed beyond repair. Oh no.." She sighed heavily and went to check on a secret compartment beside the cat's desk. " Nothing important was taken? How can this be!"

"I think that a certain jailbird just flew the coop. Team? WE are going after that dopple!" Right as Damian proclaimed out his start as the newest Robin to date, Raven had a vision flood her. It tugged the empath away as a figure had shown itself, blonde and brash as usual. ~ Cecilia, Daia.~ Raven frowned, expecting maybe Isa or Hecate instead. Cici smiled wryly in her shade of shadow and nightfall.

~ How is the hunt ? Hecate is willing to send Vespa along, or my best would not be enough?~ She replied, her eyes golden as her disposition as an Underworld candidate. This as why even Aluhainyu wasn't originally fine with Cici rising to power. A whisper in one's ear. She was too perfect to preplace the Grecian mother of the under realm's mysterious void.

~ You wish to locate the double, though another has found that the power it carries has become rather foul for an incarnate. It was never, in fact!...Roko once had a body, a soul…humanity. Roko was once suffering as a human-

~ The forbidden myth. You do not need to tell that story to me twice.~ Raven assured the sorceress in all black.

~ Gladly then, you'll require another. I have spoken with Lady Light. Hakuro also has had the news recovered inside his dimension of silence.~

~ Hakuro!?~ Raven exclaimed. ~ He's not ready-

~You'll just have to accept the demand from the council's side of things.~ Cici shrugged, sighing off her own discontent as well. ~ I am also against it. Involving the boy of A's is a risk in itself-

~ You…~ Raven took a step back. Cici was…not the same..

~ You have..changed…and I don't want you to come anywhere near my fri-

~ You live and die together, side by side.~ Cecilia expected Raven to be frustrated. What was one more enemy than any alienated ally?

~ This is nothing serious towards your Titans, dear empath of Azarath..~ Raven's eyes zoned in on Cici's golden pupils. Ah, she was playing the crony to Hecate then….No! It wasn't that-

~ You have to pull out of this-

~ No war, my dear.~ Cici chuckled as she took to reopening a vortex that lead beyond time and space.

~ I am simply giving your allies a thrust ' forth' into the unknown…~

Raven blinked away the cobwebs of the dark widow's realm. Cici had lost every ounce of redemption, gaining it back only to become …corrupted…she wasn't going to get many brownie points from Alicia for that.

Cy and Kori looked at one another before the doorway had been closed back…sort of up. Ayane left with a frown on her face, heading with both Aria and Isa to the place where a certain cat had kept her waiting long enough. Agatha looked to her left as if there was someone ready to take her home. Thankfully, her allies were here. ~ As far as ye hath been deceived, Chaos is still one of our energies..~

Agatha gasped and rushed over to Kay. " You ok? " He saw her as if something had tried to spirit away the young miss..Yet no such presence had existed.

"I think we had better scat to where that kid is soon, or else Roku won't let Aiden out …" Richard had to move quickly as Kori walked on ahead with her beloved husband.

"Nightwing.." She pondered how he'd fallen back to his old ways. Brooding over the worst to come.

/

"How…" Aiden yawned as he stretched himself out onto his musty smelling –

"Ew!" The teen had spotted a big fat roach crawling on the floor by his bed as the raised his wrist…

"Cuffed…huh.." Aiden noticed that he'd been visited, by a lousy lug – complete with a fancy set of handcuffs glowing on his wrists. "Must have magnets?-

"Anngh!" Not that only, yet he'd been outfitted with a shiny matching, metal shock collar to make matters ten times worse..

"Are you serious!?" Aiden received a second shock as he pushed his arms together..

Aand..Yup! Magnets as he'd suspected. "Too futuristic." The hero winced and leaned back into the wall by his cot. "That darn dragon must have smuggled in tech from Jump's high secu-

OR Shoji's lab…

"Are…h..hello?" A small voice came from beyond the bars of Aiden's cell away from home. He couldn't leave the cot while the dragon controlled the Chosen's lovely new necklace from his lab or whatever.

How had they gotten in here again!?

"Hi…!" The teen let his voice linger in order to carry it a longer distance. The other voice gasped as it was slightly surprised that he'd gotten through at all to his cell mate…

"Robin, right?.." Aiden asked.

"Yup, you ok-

"I'm not exactly! Are you though?" Aiden responded back while controlling his pitch.

"Why are you here?..did they...Those men have been following me across the city ..You used an ability before.." The boy wondered as Aiden seethed in a sharp breath in order to answer the run away prince's question.

"You did too..Are you sure that they've been af-

"The drugged me…it wasn't the first time…Back with that coffee, they even tried to!-

"I can tell you a lot." Aiden finally said. "I CAN TELL YOU who that director really is and why he's not just after you."

"Are you a meta- human t-

"Hate to say it, but I I'm here because of interdimensional magic.." Aiden wanted to laugh at his carelessness al to early. The dragon did not have the hero beat!

"Magic?..Are you lying to me ? I ran away cause my mom was gonna' give me to the goddamned government!" Robin spat. "You think magic is why I'm in over my head! Are you for real-

"Weird , but yes.." Aiden groaned as he tried to counter a nagging headache that had started to form.

"Shit, no." The ebony boy next door shook his head with a snort. " You might as well be a mole , or a spy-

"I'm after the same guy then that you want to put away for his crimes. If you wanna' call me a time hopping spy, then go right ahead!" Aiden exclaimed as his headache had only worsened by the extra emphasis added into his abnormal tone..

"This must be how it was for Vee to talk to me at your age.." The blonde brought his head down, begging for silence just a little while longer. His pained skull was going to crack first at this rate..

"Then..wait…Did you say Vee, by th?-

"Ah..that guy ..so lemme' guess?" Aiden snipped as his headache now had turned into a full on migraine.

"What? Did you see him in your dreams last night? Am I just talking to a wal-

"He's messing with you, so quiet or you'll explode!" Robin explained. "If you let your emotions get too weird, he'll send in her!-

"What are you trying to –

The distinguishable click of a heavy steel latch had Aiden raised up his ears. "Roll call?" He groaned and laid back onto his ugly cot. Like having one massive hangover …the movies did not mention wanting to barf out your brains.

"Alrighty, looks like it's again time to keep that promise." Director Reubin said this as if threatening to drag the teens from their harsh slumbering states. He walked as any devilish dictator, a real patrol man who was just outside the law.

His gloved palm stretched out slowly, a set of keys in them to dangle in front of the prisoners here..

"I ain't crazy doc!" One kid who was in his meta human form as a half sea creature , on two legs, spouted his testimonial out. The doctor dangled the keys closer…The meta teen jumped up, though his eyes bugged out as it had actually been a giant-

"SNAKE!" The meta teen dropped the keys, practically wetting himself in fear. "Carlos? Your phobia was so very obvious!" A woman entered the way with a white lab coat and two sharp heeled shoes to match her Director's tapping.

"Doctor LaRosa?" The Director smiled as she waltzed up to the cell of another..

Robin hid himself in the back corner of the tiny space. Docto-

"Hey!" Aiden shouted despite his god awful migraine.

LaRosa looked away from her target yet Director Reubin just motioned on over towards-

"Humph. He's throwing his voice." The Director Dragon sniffed , then left the wrong mass of hippie hair and drool to wait out his term. "I have the pleasure of knowing what makes EVERY ONE OF YOU FILTHY STRAYS , TICK..!" The dragon barked as Aiden had no choice but to cover his already damaged ears. The keys trans mutated into a guard stick as the director didn't just tap the item against every cell's window and door. He rattled them like he was waking a graveyard up..

"Myron! Myron Rowlands!?" The dragon hissed and slid over to where a black teen about a few years older that Aiden was, had readied to spit in the director's bespectacled eyes. Directors of psych wards did not apparently take harmless wads of saliva flung at their faces,e rather well. "Are you gonna make me pay for bein' fu-

"Agh!" The kid was sent back by Roku's psycho-kinetic wave of power. "Ugh…" Myron groggily got up from the cold floor. His eyes full of rage, he attacked the bars of his cell in the form of a Bengal tiger.

"Rrah! YOU POSER! YOU SOLD OUT YOUR OWN-

"ANGH!" The collar again worked its magic as it stunted the great beast's natural talents. He ended up whimpering in his cell in the boy Myron's body, crying to Jesus, god, some chaos deity from a punk band in the eighties-

"Who wants to speak out of line to the director, next!?" LaRosa shouted out to the miserable meta- children of California.

"We have brought you all here for one purpose." The director was again nearing Aiden's pitch black hole in the wall..

"To examine your abilities for the United States Government to decide your fates…and to eventually cure you…if we are at all told that this is the purpose of MY ward!"

"Aagh! " The room echoed by the damned remote in the doctor's hand. The magnet cuffs left on each of the many occupants were activated. Aiden was flung against the wall opposite his bed as the torment only made his headache far, far past that of needing a cure. Robin was glued to the floor with his face rug burned by the added friction. He grit through his clenched teeth.

"L..low..life..!-

LaRosa sauntered over to Robin's door as Aiden let out a shout. "STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" He didn't know if the doctor had good….she was just a criminal, ugh! He had..to..

"Do. Not…touch me!" Robin blasted the witch doctor back with a vivid stare from his two glowing eyes.

She gripped the floor and saw as patient Robin's rampaging had earned him a visit from-

"NONONO!" Aiden screamed as he shouted for the god to quite torturing everyone.

"AHH….SPEC-

"Magic words, this time? YOU DETEST ALL FORMS OF IT!" Roku turned towards Aiden as his mind soon went…

Aiden collapsed by the dragon's serpent orbs. They were just mind controlling…him..

Robin was..hollering.. as they took him..through those doors..Aiden felt his body also being lifted…Myron was dragged outside of his cell as the blonde's vision blurred over…

"I'm not afraid!" Aiden's ears listened as Robin spouted such profanities along with his farewell anthem.

"WE ARE UNITED! SO FIGHT BACK FOR OUR FREEDOM!"

Ok! i must,must go with the next arc because...it will lead to a lot of spoilers- to be further continued in...Teen Titans: New Generations- The Chaos Round - Disaster Arc Part One .


	2. Chapter 2

Teen Titans: New Generations- The Chaos Round- Disaster Arc; Chapter One: If Men Could Sing Through Time and Space– Hearing Your Answer- Apples and Oranges- A Fresh Landing for the Chaos Princess.

/

The long- awaited- let's get this party started – arc!

COMMENCE!

/

"Lights, please." The signal was clear. Those lights could have given the strongest man a seizure as the true mastermind had his way with whatever was left of his strongest. Prisoners.

Aiden bolted upright at the sound of whirring machinery. He could not cry out. He could not even-

"WWHHAAAA!" The scream was of an electric shudder as the culprit's foot became visible behind large cylindrical glass-

"FIGHT ME !" The tiger's voice. Aiden turned to see that these were not ordinary cells. They were containment units, occupied by the ward's strongest meta- humans…Nineteen eighties. Aiden looked up, his eye- sight hazy as his vision was still a bit ruined at the moment by his, earlier migraine. The dragon had done that. He must have had a plan to make Aiden really hate the monster's bad side!

"Yo, kid! " The tiger Myron shouted for someone to jump out if the way-

"Huh!?.." Aiden looked over by squinting through a narrow gap in the tint of his container's glass. He shut one eye and saw, Myron was yelling at the run away kid. Robin was LaRosa's target. Aiden came alive and realized that he had to find a way to escape quickly. This was setting itself up this scene as a disaster. Just like the air raid in London…Just like the attack on the Dodona temple grounds.

Aiden took a deep breath and forced his body to relax. He though, then it was so simple! Telepathically, he could beg Robin to go berserker on the two criminal scientists…or whatever a director of a fake psych ward really was.

~Speak..hah! I'm so not beat yet, lizard breath!~

Director Reubin had already revealed his ESP abilities to his clients. Yet Roku in his guise as the director knew that he couldn't stay still. He had to try to get Aiden's hopes to their very lowest point. He was evil! A bad guy, a monster or whatever the apocalypse said, yada yada. Aiden expected him to fight- Lilu would be laughing in her grave at this little time- tripping escapade the dragon believed would keep him unholy.

"RAISE THE FREQU-

"NO MORE!" Aiden heard a loud crash as the Director was hit back by none other than the boy with ebony strands. "You are a creep and no one should have to serve you! We are leaving, c'mon!"

The dragon had seen enough. "You aren't getting far, brat. LaRosa…La Llorona!?" He barked the doctor's way as soon as she's reverted to her ghastly ghoulish self. "Mi Nino! Why do you fight us?.." She made her face seem human and sweet. A terrible trick, Robin snarled as he only rushed to come after the startled Director instead.

"HEY!" Aiden finally had the nerve to scream, seeing as he'd missed out on most of the action already.

"Oh, shit! Damn I forgot they put you in there. " Carlos was the one bystander to see the captive blonde from his angle. He had another job to do, so the switch beside Aiden's unit was pulled right away. Aiden gasped at the feeling of being freed from another crazy mad- science inspired cell. He was nobody's guinea pig.

"Thank you, now! Where the heck did-

"YAAH!"

"Very crazy ol' bruja at four o'clock!" Carlos warned as La Llorona came swooping down , dragging her body to run through the machines as a silent bad luck charm. The things sparked to life as the last arm from within the cylindrical cell sprang out to drag poor Aiden back into the mad- mechanical holding chamber.

"MECHA ARMS!?" Carlos exclaimed and rushed in to tug Aiden's leg. He was a survivor too. This doctor wasn't human and neither was the sleaze-ball director.

"Hang….on!" Aiden growled as Carlos could change any one part of his body into a different sea creature . Pretty nifty. "CRABS ARE SOO AWESOOME!" Carlos took his left arm and turned it into a claw to grab hold of something that could wrench both young men to safety. His other he enhanced and left a human's, though his strength had doubled to that of a whale's mass!

"OW!OW!" Aiden whimpered and bit his lip before the mecha-arm had finally powered down. It crackled and died while Carlos had the honor of dragging his new compadre to safety.

"You are a mighty-morpher, huh?" Aiden panted and smoothed back his sweaty blonde locks. Carlos chucked and grinned back to the new kid. "Almost love the nick- name, but dude! We have to get that Director before he runs away-

"You and Tiger- riffic over there." Aiden pointed to the trans mutating teen Myron. He had Reubin cornered, yet director wasn't scared. He was-

"GET DOWN!" Aiden shoved Carlos to the ground as well as hid his own head in the process. A flash blinded the tiger teen as he reverted to his old human body, falling in a heap to the floor before he could even touch the crooked Director.

"GOT YOUU!" Carlos screamed as LaL Llorona took him into her arms, Aiden gawked as the two events left him torn…another fantastic way to lose it! -

AHA!

"You're not fooling anyone!" Aiden shut his eyes as the lights suddenly all went out at once, leaving him to scramble for a way back….

/

Aiden opened his eyes. It was dark. The room was set away from the previous location... A snort from another in the room had the blindfolded- yes, teen turn his head. He had a device round his neck that kept the blonde in place; his ankles and wrists were held down by a chair…it must have been the machine that Reubin expected would work on his prisoner.

"Aw, really?" Reubin shook his head with a chuckle by how Aiden refused to resent him. Whatsoever he had done…The brat remained concerned only for one reason. Aiden growled by how the dragon thought that pushing the kid into a seizure was ok..It was again human rights and all that jazz!

"If you think I'd quit being a demon anytime soon, you really might then be your father's child-

"Dad tried to! See?" Aiden exclaimed to the ridged director. He cleared his throat while adjusting his narrowed spectacles.

"De LaRosa I can guess, you already know her identity?"

"The witch, yeah I do." Aiden frowned and wanted to desperately scratch his nose.

"Ah, in the city…for shame she wasn't that way before.." The doctor was LaLlorona, it was too obvious to miss. Yet she'd just gone batty in the streets of …Hmm, maybe she could do something else while the god wasted his precious time in the past..

"Are you supposed to ah, I dunno..Scramble my brains? Make me 'willing to obey', or are you just gonna-

The teen was fine and dandy until a boot, a good old doc martins banged against the teen-

"OFF LIMITS- Wha!?-

The dragon could have easily given him a case of cracked eggs in… His pants, which must have hunched up from that delayed response. The dragon..wasn't a very orthodox villain after all..

"I'm not afraid to teach you a lesson. " The director leaned in to whisper into Aiden's ear. Despite the flashing helmet for the simulation torture that Reubin has been dying to use, he rather preferred to play mob boss instead of doctor with his victims.

"Move the boot and I might stay here just to give you your goddamn-

"Anghh! OW!"

THE BOOT REALLY WAS CRUSHING…HIS-

"tha..at…p..pri..vate! AGH!"

"Your father would have bitten his lip." The director removed his boot as Aiden seethed through his nose. "You…are also in pain-

"Gach!-

The real pain was now a straight kick to the heroic Chosen's panting ribcage.

"Agh!..Ag…gh..!"

The blonde coughed.

~A...a beat-down. God damnit..~

"Maybe your papa _shouldn't_ have refused to train you." The dragon was poking at his past. Aiden coughed, or rather he hocked a response. "h…e..d-

"YOU _DARE_ LIE WHEN I CAN SEE IT ALL!?" Roku's eyes lit up as he tugged off the blonde's simulation helmet, staring deep into the brat's two hazel orbs.

"YOU'LL **NOT** LOOK AWAY…NONE OF MY INFLUENCED HAVE EVER BROKEN THIS DRAGON FROM HIS PATH-

_"agh!"_ Roku let go as Aiden's skull became horribly hot. **"HORUS?!"**

Aiden shook his head with a grin, his eyes clearly under another's possession as they shown mostly amber.

~ No, an old ally…Aaron, Stellanova. The late sage of Solaris and Apollon's cult origins..~

Roku grunted, rearing his eyes forward as his body reverted to his one before Director Reubin had come into being.

"How could I have _forgotten_ the pining sage – Alicia is **dead!"** He hissed. "What are you after any-

~ She and I promised to guide the Chosen and the unofficial Seer of the Golden Aura to victory. Yet my vessel wishes to expose the rooted darkness in your heart…Of the past you refuse to disclose to the many whom –

~ I have **NOTHING** to add..~ Roku snipped and threw his cloak fully around himself . The seer's light was disturbing. "I am following another oath. Lilly is no longer on my back. Now, kindly allow my captive his freedom, gnat sorcerer-

~ Then heal his , injury.~

" Which ." Roku scanned the seer's golden eyes. "His ribs or ball-

~ Both.~

"Leave first then." The god sniffed. " I prefer to work -

~ Get on with it, this **instant** dra!-

Roku raised his arm as the extra energy from his fingertips had a duel purpose. It could be for healing or harming. Roku hated this spell unless at all, Rokuro had been the patient. Oh, well.

Aiden came to as he blinked back at the dragon in his old form as Director Reubin. The boy had enough ' get out of jail' cards to win himself the keys to the city... He did not need extra proof of the dragon's humility..damn that sorcerer.

"Ah, oh…Wow.." Aiden's body's feeling had recovered. He did not ask the dragon who'd looked as if he had been kicked square in the nuts..funny.

"You'll be sent to see Doctor De LaRosa in a bit- Don't think of this as any way lenient behavior on my part." The dragon frowned and went to open the door as Aiden's arm and ankle bonds magical unfastened themselves.

"LaRosa, tell her to stay away from that kid. Robin?" He huffed to the god, for if Aiden was here and willing, he'd see to the forbidden myth's destruction if he had to.

"He has to receive tre-

**"Cut** the bull!" Aiden snapped.

"And if I were to baby you and the revolutionary out there, would that be _alright_ for him to burn down the building? "The dragon ripped Aiden from his eat and held the teen to have him stare out into the dimly lit hallway.

The cries and fire coming from one room had Aiden gape. The kid…was not joking…but. Roku-

"In the past, as before, I had been eternally cursed to end his life, for what I had committed in the Spirit world with my last , remaining son…was the very last page they had believed."

"You.." Aiden saw as the kid looked too unstable. He was already a wreck before. But that-

"I can-

"Robin died on the seventeenth of October. He was left in a state where none could wake him. He had destroyed the ward and was found outside of it. The papers the next day described it as 'he had been trying to find a way to fix his pain' Ah...but as far as here and this time-

"He died because YOU drove him overboar-

"Don't **push** it anymore, boy." Reubin let Aiden go out the door with a shove. "His mother was a mess. No father, he was as good as _ready_ to lose everything in order to discover what I was willing to offer!"

Aiden looked into the mad man's eyes from behind his thin rimmed glasses.

"You offered him a way, to live. You still would have ended up with the crime of killing him. You can't let it-

"As before, brat." Reubin pointed to the hall, escorting himself away as the door to the simulation room shut with a loud bang.

"You..want to break the damn curse so that! –

Aiden stopped himself. "You _cared_ for someone.." The blonde gulped.

/

Ava and her companions had wandered into a space that was completely concealed with magic.

~ Roko's been here.~ Chris said as his wolf self had picked up her scent all across the floors.

Ava saw that this had to be the place where they would find Marcus. She remembered trying earlier and losing him…If Roku was up to no good again, then his toys had to be taken away.

~ If Marcus's scent is…-

~ I don't like you or your petty problems …princess!~

Roko was…these were memories!

**AVA!**

_**AVA!**_

_REIA!~_

The nineteen year old opened her eyes and looked, she was standing in the past..as Lady Reia..behind a tree a bunch of beings were talking…As..Reia dove to remain unseen behind the tree. Thankfully she was intangible, at least to the animals as they discussed an important event to occur.

~ Were we not able to-

"The cult of Calpharon is **wrong!"** A bird, a crow woman with two greying braids and a customary outfit of the first world peoples was shouting at a fox. He though was within another face..

_"ARTERIUS!"_ As if a curse word, the crow maiden gasped by the fox's presumably poor choice of words.

"Lady Astibile is no more..Aneius of the Snow covered Tundra spoke of another come to free us."

"Lady Reia is of Eternal blood. She is not of spirit origin. We are the totems of the Aurora and beyond it."

"Hay, yet the council has not spoken word of the second rise. The imp were lead, or they were made to do so by a mysterious outsider-

"It was the exiled Prince Neferus's son." Another, an elk spirit spoke up as he dashed past the clearing to join his comrades against the freshly blanketed ground of frost and cold.

"They are in fact related!" A squirrel spirit scurried down from its decent sized pinus to add to the chatter of a coming doomsday.

"The good wood is all else. In the south to Gaia. In the East it is of dragons and gods of good intent. Of the west it is to the faire and the priests of Druid and Norse, even to the many clans which still redeem our knowing – as to the places where Cawrah's people are at one with their human rites.. they take a bit though never for game are we hurt…yet now!-

"Herestles." The squirrel shivered, rubbing its paws together rapidly. "The beings of the outer forbidden are coming ! Lady Reia is not a warrior! We cannot die to those demon beings of discord-

"Halau, you are correct little ally."

"I am nothing more than an ally. My size is only as my cunning and wit, silly Fox Ferus-

"Ahem, what of the Priestess? The Raven winged went into hiding, she is their late and very last protector."

Ferus added; "Lady Reia has the blood of a Raven winged, yet she is but a wolf to Aneiu and her very pack."

"Yes, her branch was due to the Lord Fyinne." The elk spirit recalled. "Cawrah, send word to Aneiu if you must. The elk and rabbit clans are willing to fight if they should be told."

Cawrah the crow maiden nodded before reverting to her totem animal form.

"The crow will too defend the front. Reia may not surpass her ancestors. Llilinxi the Lynx totem foresaw of a disaster to befall her..-

"We _must_ prevent it-

"You cannot." Cawrah shook her head as her beak bobbed with it. " The extinction of the Raven Winged is coming…That **was** her vision."

/

Ava heard Chris calling her back to the present day. She leapt at the chance to escape the flashback of another. Ava was the remainder of what had been Reia Wolfsmund of the Barrens in her past. Reia had practically been clawed to death and sought to bring her left over soul or being back in another form and way by alchemic magic. . Ava was just a homunculi really then. A copy of Reia's unborn fetus that she had allowed to live …

Ava had just had Reia's memories though. The spirit had told her...

Ava turned to Chris as he extended and arm to help her up while the quiet princess mulled over the vision of a 'war' in the back of her mind.

Chris looked puzzled. He asked her or was about to play his role as her kind friend, when the room started to turn to dusk again-

_"Wait!"_ Ava stopped him as he looked back, alarmed that Ava was suggesting that the illusion push their buttons anymore. Chris started to interrupt the silence.

~ I don't think we should , t-

"No, but he might BE where the trail meant to have us follow.." She explained over his nervous doubting rants. Chris gawked at the irony. ~ A rabbit hole…where we'd just run before seeing what lies at the end.~

"We'll wait out the changes..!" Ava braced herself, though not a soul had come out as before.

**"Aha!"** Astarte huffed as her tall weapon was it dragged on from behind. "Isa said to check up on you, chica, lobo?"

"Aunt Isa cares..though Sara, we have an idea where they may have taken Marcus!"

"You had _better_ not do anything crazy, Ava ." Astarte put her weapon away as she moved to levitate closer to the two lovebirds. Hopefully, Chris knew about doing the right thing and staying clear of his old friend- she was royalty for life. He didn't stand a chance in the netherworld.

"I'm going to ride it out with my lady." Chris returned to his nearly old self, that nervous set of eyes made poor Ava remember her dear childhood sweetheart. As they did nod to one another, then to Astarte as she grunted and pointed towards their window of opportunity. "Get moving, hombres. We have to catch the next astral drop into darkness."

They did until Ava's theory had ben realized. A sweeping vortex spat forth what looked to be. Bits of dust or sparkling sand…?..

"In we go! No time for hesitation!" Ava leapt towards the vortex as Chris barreled over in mid spin- Astarte hollered for the kids to bring themselves back, but…

**"GERONIMO!"** It was too late to think back twice.

/

Amy held her skull as a presence had her feeling rather dizzy. It was not Haru who had come back into Ami's protection for a while to restore her mana. Nor was it Kaede who had stayed with the mini miko and her allies in the cat's vacated underground lab.

Damian had pushed Charl into a stinking pit, while Zatana had used a bit more of her magic to trap him in another space time vortex. Anna had her doubts though stayed close as Kaede led the way to the next room. Tsukiyume had aided the team as she'd been summoned back home.

There was panic throughout the Celestial's homeworld. Sayu had to keep order while Tsani had not yet mastered the art herself – the monks all took to protesting as the witches and priests of the Sky Capital went where their voices could be heard.

~ Lady _LIGHT!~_ A faire being of light herself, Aurora panted and tried to find the words as just the daughter to a council head. _**"LADY!"**_ She cried out as the swarming masses had started up only feet from where the two met in person.

Aurora had eyes as opals and hair as a long as her eyes were bright. She wore blue hued white dresses and pink tinged coral in the dusk hour. The first dawn's child, she had received word of a breach back on earth. Something had in fact gotten by the plane's field of existence without being spotted.

~ Lady _…light!..pant*..ahuh…~_ As the golden star in the sky Light turned to her subject, she left her eyes to seem of some concern for the dear- she had run amid a coup! That was too bold for what she indeed was.

~ Your body will lose its light if you decide to …pant..we must contact A-

~ The Universal Athena is sending aid as we speak.~ Light told her companion not to fret. ~ Those whom have the need to protest our command here are welcome to open debate. Our city was transformed once Sayu took to another position away from the-

~ Not of them, Lady Light!~ Aurora stopped her highness. ~ A breach from the realm of _Gorgons!~_

~ The Titans of lore?~ Light asked.

~ Yes, malady.~ Aurora nodded with grave expression on her face. ~ It seems that they too have decided to reawaken – a soul left the realm and is-

~Send word to Mistress Hecate.~

~Who will…I!?~ Aurora gasped. Celestial figures were as the upper class ,they hated to associate with others outside of their party. It was, a strange shift as both the Celestial and Eternal nations were of Immortal ancestry. ~ You are that which carries light in her eyes, your mourning could not have been bright... ~ Light herself had trained the girl since her first lessons as a relic of sunrise and piercing light from the beyond.

~ I wish to go forth, yet do not send me from the heavens, majesty!~ The girl shook her head and whimpered.

~ By the gods and Eternia.~ Light smiled as she draped a warm band of fingers over her pupil's shoulder. ~ The Netherworld is too wherest' my creator lies.~

~ Lady …Hecate-

~ My duel sister as well.~ The Light demoness nodded from the memory she had transfer to her young student's minds' eye.

/

Ronald knelt before three judges. His mother Sayumon, Raikou or the relic of thunder, Thor as well, and lastly-

~ We have a fellow Guardian- he hath witnessed both the defeat and reawakening of darkness within the earthen spirit plane?~ The Celestial judge was an old man, the council must have sent the seer to see to the heavenly being's earlier screw up. They'd sent a daemon who'd been neck 'n neck with a very powerful soul stealer- Roku Noburo of the past and nothing more..

~ My child, you saw the demon's face.~ Thor added from his seat to the north. ~ Was his blood hot with rage and vengeful thoughts? Did he reveal his plans in his haste-

~ No _no!~_ Raikou shook his head to interrupt the Norse prince. ~Rehnumamon Havaraiti ,you were sent to the earth after the demon banished you from his dark entrapments? Where was he headed, boy?~

~ His target, is the boy again…only he wishes a full shell instead, a way back..as Cecilia and I had attempted before being properly stationed on Earth as her guardian, we did find that there was something capable of restoring the god sent to earth- prior our investigations, in London. Lord of thunder..sir.~ The kitsune of lightening in training had been handed his role through his birth granted abilities. Raikou was not only of Spirit world Japan's earlier faction, yet even in shared myths he was seen as a howling tyrant of the skies abound.

His long goat-bearded self frowned as the thunder king decided on a suitable course of action, just as Lady Sayumon had soon enough interrupted to point out;

~ My son, you were seen in London with one of the witches of Hecate's Crescendo branch, correct?~

Actually, it had been back when the widow had nearly controlled the elder twin, body and soul in her takeover under the daemon dragon's silent ….vacancy before he'd returned to Earth a fifth or third time was it?...

~It seems the dragon's attack has erased the part of your memories which indicates such an event.~ Ronald nodded, seemingly lost yet aware that he was still in a bit of shock from the blast. The dragon had sent his late possessed's son hurtling skyward into the Celestial's court- where he now resided thanks to an old ally from a separate division.

~ I wish to contact the plane keeper of the Infinite- Hakuro-

~ You are denied.~ Raikou also turned to Thor as his eyes were steely, silent. ~ _Why?_ The kid might be just able to break that lizard's bony spine! Why is he bein' hidden?~ The older deity exclaimed.

~ That boy is still unable to bond properly with the current Chosen~ Thor announced for the delicate Sayu to even over hear. He hated to lower his tone in public places.

~ He is strong enough to repel the god's measly-

~ Nay, he is weakest when not able- when not amounting to that boy's trust on Earth.~ The gentle giant stated. ~ I am sorry. We will gladly alert the Eter-

~ Aluehainyu has already joined my comrades. She helped to free an event taking hold of Italy on Earth.~ The fox interjected. ~ **Please…~** Ron bowed his head and tried even harder to gain his mother's favor. Even Sayumon wanted the gods of thunder to approve.

_~Allow_ me entry unto HIS realm..Before the Earthen plane is forever shattered! ~ As a son to a royal line of dogs who had begged throughput the decades and eons, Ron would only demand the elder's cooperation before there was nothing else left to decide or protect.

/

The Gorgons; denied of their rights,known as het lesser, older deity of Ancient Greek myth - even as they been kept, locked away. They did so dwell within the dark , the skies, the deepest waters…

However, the noise above rattled one deity's heart to quake as the upper crust above her.

"Oh…gilded..apple….golden truth.." She droned as she held a gaudy looking golden fruit between her fingers, turning it ever so cautiously. "Who is fairer than even Aphrodite and Lady _'lazy'_ Hera..?" She sneered the peafowl maiden's name as if the dark haired woman wanted to spit. "I am still. **Waiting!.."** She whispered and searched the cavern's ceiling with a glazed expression. A disillusioned one as if she could destroy it's barrier which kept the Gorgon army at bay.

"No Zeus to amuse. No Paris or Helen…Oh, dear…but I do..see?..." Her lovely apple acted as a crystal looking glass as the silhouette of a girl with beautiful golden locks and a blue dress pranced about in the middle of the day. "London…in the year…'1897?..She'll do…" The goddess in her greatest show of power brought the apple to gleam as she concentrated on the time, contemplating a day when her kin would have the world once again. Chaos was yet within her aging grasp..She took the apple to her lips and bit into its flesh with a moan. "A delicious new day is dawning. " She chuckled. A new apple apppeared for she had the power, as long as one godless oaf was taken down a peg. The loathsome, hungry anti god. A dragon she hadn't yet thanked personally for stlling her voice forever.

/

As confused as ever? On the last arc's last chapter, Agatha heard a whisper regarding 'Chaos?' Check the next arc here to see who that big baddie is gonna be! Read on to find out! Stay curious for more .


	3. Chapter 3

Teen Titans New Generations- The Chaos Round- Disaster Arc; Chapter Two: Off To See The Wizard, Marcus? Cecilia's Departure- La Rosa With Thorns.

/

I will be gettinget results in about two days, diagnosed as bad gallbladder troubles. Down to eating apples, brown rice, oatmeal and bananas..

It is hard to continue this. Can only eat two foods at a a time, even those have become an issue with ackthe nausea and flare ups..Now then back to our arc!

/

Aiden was worried. He was spiraling down the rabbit hole again and had even had a poor defenseless kid from another California INCARCERATED! He had to work up enough starved energy from his core to bust out …

"Aaron.." Aiden signed as he allowed the other glowing blonde to overshadow him.

~ We aren't long for this time before the walls close us in for good. ~ The light eyed seer responded as Aiden in his astral-drawn form replied back;

~ I know that, but you came back! I though Horus was the one who was the dragon of the golden Dawn's –

~ Each era carries a greater protector of your newest rites, dear Chosen. ~ The seer explained calmly. Anxious as his young charge was, Aaron saw that fear buried beneath the child's pride. There wasn't much of that however which worried the saint.

~ I'm not just in charge of keeping the peace. I'm human so-

~ Still, your worry is that you shall remain as we, a wanderer.~ The light seer sighed as if tossed aside already. ~Ah..For I fear the dragon has again tempted you to disregard your very energies come to light.~

Aiden snorted, thinking that the seer was starting to sound just like Annie.

~ Do you not believe that you have been granted the power of a golden tomorrow? ~ Aaron Stellanova's eyes narrowed to the sound of a clicking. Yet it was actually a clinking sound that had broken the overshadowed relic's power. That had also alerted the two teens of another lurking from before that closed doorway.

"I hope you are comfortable, Niño." The voice was sweet as sugar and harsh as arsenic. Now mixed into knots, Aiden's gut suddenly felt warm. He was only able to recall that accursed feeling from..

"Where is Robin?!" He shot back in her face. "You had better not-

"Oh, child…He is not who I am concerned about. I assure you. That boy is resting, as are my extra –

"You had better give up on this crazy plan already!" Aiden spat. "I am not being dragged back home with any blood on my hands because of you keeping your trust in-

"I, deal in many issues here." La Rosa forced back her rage with her fists curled up uncomfortably. Had she worn her gloves, oh yes that would have burned!

" . .Leave." Aiden seethed as the devil woman watched his legs make their way for the door. "Then go." She moved aside, seeing this as a way to change tactics.

"Wh-wait?.." Aiden froze up. _"You…Aren't…stopping_ me?" He asked carefully and pointed at the deadly witch inside his cell room. She smiled back as if to deceive. To toy with her quarry. "These matters I often deal with. Especially with boys your age.." She seemed to purr those words as the heat by Aiden's gut was ready to force him to expel, to explode. Toilet.

"I..I'll just be a sec!" He heaved out and gripped himself, holding his poor body to remain upright as he scanned the halls for a lavatory. _Yes!_ The guards here had it made! He rushed inside as La Rosa waved to the staff to let Aiden have his perfect release of tension.

She just stared at him running like an idiot from the doorway. Her eyes yearning to know too much. He was such a bundle of delicate nerves, as a puppet on strings. Maybe not so ordinary by his pretty aura.

"That character he was speaking with, he must belong in that cell then." Chuckled the wraith as her eyes never left the boy's door. The child was right now plotting his escape from within the confines of that tiny shelter. Until he came again by her prowess, she'd not let on that her kin were akin to succubus in another time. She lusted after love just as much as the next murdered bride to be. Her actions would follow.

"Let us see if I cannot fix such a perfectly broken toy. _Hum?"_

/

Someone though was afraid for Aiden's life. For Ava's tenacity, Ami's purity and Anna's confidence in keeping her balance as a pillar of fire and light, they were once again fighting against some unknown ethereal beings from, another dimension...

She, the red headed teen was just a knight to her siblings, a watchdog aiding from the sidelines. Ami looked up and noticed that Roko had not snapped for some time as the kitsune twins and guardians struggled to find one another.

"Aiden went through a time Warp with the dragon, we also lost sight of the teen heroes of your world." Kaede snorted, rather growled as her gums were sore of it all. They still had not located Marcus amid this crazy maze of illusions that the dragon had kept in place. Marcus was going to be forced to ' **house** ' Aiden's light so that the monster Roku could either destroy, taint, or devour the teen in the most fitting way possible afterwards. Aiden would be left vulnerable to another psychic attack, the dragon would gain complete control..

**STILL.** Ami had trained, yet Amaterasu was still not ready to take the next step as the girl's faithful teacher. She was afraid of breaking that very bond which was tightly wound around the two because of the Lord serpent Apep's successful tormenting. (THESE NEW YEARS NEW GEN PART ONE NEW DESTINATIONS ARC. )

"Aiden was taken hold of by Apep inside that cocoon…" Haru remembered as they ran to meet up with the rest of the chosen's allies. "The Egyptian sun serpent?" Kaede asked. "Is this why that boy is a target of the red dragon once again?"

Anna had reunited with her allies before, as she'd found this gossip to be too cruel, unjustifiably. Young Ami, her coy sister just watched on from beside her fox guardian allies.

""It was in fact the very reason why Queen Hecate of the Grecian order has tried before to take him from his allies on the earthen plane." Haru answered with a nod. "Ami was there, she remembers only so much after the drain of her powers." Anna turned to notice that Ami had been added to the discussion.

"I was konked out until mom and dad brought me to see Haru in Tokyo!" The girl grinned back to her fox eared companions and flustered big sister.

"Then we have yet to-

"Coming in hot!" The tween looked up and pointed at the ceiling. Haru stood with her mouth agape. Kaede grunted as her instincts took hold. She readily pulled both Haru and Ami out of the way before a certain guardian was willing to crash land into the foxes without a proper warning or invitation.

"What is going on?! Haru?" Ami shook as she waited impatiently for an answer back. "Who took an astral nose dive, huh?"

The dust finally cleared, the culprit being a certain ally who'd not been seen in some time.

"Ronaldo!" Ami beamed back as the shockingly handsome ex- rock artist from Australia winced by the pain in his lower back. Had he destroyed a mess of now exposed and busted…drainage pipes from that entrance?

"Mind explaining why you decided to kick a wall into the sewers?" Kaede went on offense as Ron put his hands up to protest her reign on his face. He preferred a lack of scarring if possible. Anna readied her weapon in order to stop the two mutts from starting a chain reaction. It seemed that the elder fox could sense this energy from her charge, so her response was not as aggressive as Ann an expected it to be.

"I got in on it with me mum and she's found out something that's 'off the wall what we hadn't expected!" Ron blurted out. Kaede had finally been granted reason to lower her blades. The sly fox looked nothing as his title, not to indefinitely describe the mangy playboy. The guardians the heavens. The elemental 'Dogs.' Dogs, if one did not know from the beginning, were enemies to many a fox throughout the known world. Yes, the immortals had taken on roles as Elemental aspects within the natural order. Plants, rocks, trees, rovers, oceans. Animism of the modern decade. Yet Ron was of storms by his house. Of lightning and thunder. While Kaede was of the spirit world's diverse faction as a protector and servant to the Immortal Amaterasu, she preferred dogs who knew how to hold their barks back when working with those not of her same stature.

"Should we wait for your allies to unite first?" Haru put in. "We have little time to discuss such events underground-

"Lower level, I know enough to have you back with the crew. They are on the fourth floor-

"You have a _fourth_ in Japan?" Kaede hissed while her fur stood back on end once more by the comment. "You are **trying** to test me, _**dog!"**_

'Not four? _Oh,_ the traditional…I'm sorry bout' that…"

"Regardless… if a number four cannot exist, then why did you say there was one at all to begin with?" Haru asked the blonde fox as he tried to understand this riddle himself. Ami hummed out loud as if her detective skills were once again required, though Haru found it a slight distraction.

"Not four…. A symbol masking the _real_ number maybe?" The blonde kit wondered as he'd seemingly made Haru's day. "At least this will not be as difficult with more heads to add to our group- then let's roll out, team!" Ami threw her fist to the air as Haru jumped by the sudden change I atmosphere. **"Haha!** You've got spunk, lil wallaby!" Ronald grinned while Kaede was still uneasy about the kit being such good pals with her late charge. Anna shook her head but couldn't hold back her own heartfelt thanks that Ami was her old self again. She just hoped that Aiden would be as lucky after this mess was all over.

"To the group! No time to sleep off all that mochi ice cream I ate before ending up in a magical labyrinth!" Ami hummed another tune as she slipped along away from Kaede's protection. Ron reverted to his lightening fox aspect as Haru giggled by the scene. Though it made her worried. They were far below, it wasn't right. Ami had to stay alert. They had been separated from their heroic team members earlier, knowing not if this labyrinth even held a true end to begin with!

/

Away from time and space, Cecilia Daia stood before the glassy reflection of a stage prop mirror that had been for one of the now defunct Aggie G's concerts. The very one still at San Remo, trapped in time it seemed up to that point.. The adventure was not over yet. No..Cecilia felt as if something was being hidden from her as she raised up her arm to arrange a passageway back to the Under realms-

**~Stop** right there! ~ Esmeralda and Cliff stood in her way as the nereid daughter used her magic to disorient Cici in a sneak attack. Aluehainyu found the ground again as her wings dispersed, her eyes and stance the kind that could take the next offender off right to the Elemental courts. Cecilia Daia grunted and stared up at her now enemies. Perhaps she should tell them. Someone was-

~You are not to leave your comrades without warning. ~ Alue stated as her glowing magenta gaze narrowed onto the darkly clad sorceress's stunned form. ~ I _will_ relay to you the information I have gathered." Cici did not care if they knew too much this early in time. Something wasn't alright to her! It was…

~ The balance of darkness…of control…~ The voice of the Great Widow Spirit rattled from within Cecilia's skull. It was under attack?

"I…must go to her…Please do _not_ deter me any longer! ~ As I a burst of light through the very void, Cecilia held nothing back as she erected a barrier to keep the team of heroes and guardians from her mission. She HAD to go to Hecate **RIGHT _NOW._** Her palms ached, shook as panic rose from n.v within her breast. She was being called…summoned by a tremendously powerful entity!

~You will _not_ abide by your code as a head advisor and delegate?!~ Alue shouted as her powers were again let to disperse across the earthen field. Esme shielded herself and Clifford from the backlash of power. "You are **BOTH** taking this too _far!"_ The blue-eyed nereid shouted back through the force field.

~We **don't** have to discuss it then! ~ Cecilia huffed and readied her chant to the other side. Alue _rammed_ against the barrier with her entire body, her quarry had been deceived by one apart of her own sect of the underworld's elite order. She screamed out as the portal had begun to widen on the other side. Yet her own abilities had been nullified while the leader beside that of the deceased Lord Destiny's throne was still suffering within the human world. Esme readied an attack of her own. Of flowing tides, she transformed into her fox self of an elemental's appearance.

**"CLIFFORD!** We must unite our powers, _brother!"_ The time had come that the two would finally have a chance to make themselves useful as the only beings to have such a power. Clifford revert to a form of a fox that carried long slender leaves for pointed ears. Esme's were fins, while his powers pertained to the elemental Gaia. The state of all of this disorder had to seize.

**~Elemental _waters!~_** Right as Esme spoke those words, another fox with fur of a deep lavender, and eyes wide with dark pupils , came bounding out from within the rift Cecilia had been attempting to open.

The next fox was as Alue had feared, a reaper's unfaithful protégé…

/

Had to cliff it! So far possible Gallbladder problems so sick in bed, this is low intensity so I can at least ed the chapter. The whole summer I thought that putting a little maniac deity into the mix was Roko's job…but her role is going to be taken in chapter number 4 or 5. Read on and stay curious for more!


	4. Chapter 4

Teen Titans; Chaos Round Part One Arc One: Chapter 3:Stood Still Long Enough .

/

Gallbladder surgery on the thirteenth of February- happy early hearts day to my readers if you are still awaiting the next chapter of this 'bunch of words tossed together haplessly by a fan gal such as myself.` I hope to finish it and my other story which will be selflessly for the open market in the future- no spoilers! This is just a fun practice so I don't lose motivation. By next year I'm hoping anyway? Maybe, it's back to college! Anyway, back to the arc!

/

Aiden had again stumbled down a hallway- albeit, he had not (mind anyone,) sullied his trousers as a result of taking directions from a crazed, mythological spec-tress.

De LaRosa had spooked the blonde silly as his tangled-together arms would have made it difficult to fight off any baddies hiding out in the dark.

"Then you _do_ have trouble with powerful women." The voice was from no other than the dragon as the teen had his hands readied into willing fists- so far, he'd been wrong on two accounts.

"Robin?" The blonde gawked as the kid; the smaller one with ebony strands, came out of hiding. With his cheek bruised and his clothes covered in a putrid filth that Aiden guessed had to have been from a sewage pipe joyride late…that night...

"What happened to…Did you escap-

"Was free, until.." Robin wiped his face with a sniff as his sludge encrusted arm was nothing pretty to stare at. "Until I listened to what you said before, just..that was , a bad idea." The younger boy sighed with his hand set back down to his side, shakily from on what Aiden could witness. With his feet still able, his body swayed in closer, dragging themselves up to the blonde's eyes as Robin encircled the startled older teen. Aiden's age had been returning as the dragon had gotten a might weaker while remaining with little to no 'sacrifice` here on this distinct timeline. How long before his will to fight the dragon did crack, or was Roku expecting a rival out of these ridiculous mind games of his own making?

"Why didn't you." He gulped. "How did you come back?.." Aiden quizzed this time. The kid wasn't just looking for a way outside. Something had halted his progress. The faded color of his skin had to somehow be proof that the boy was not himself, as Aiden had seen this sight before. Drained of his vitality…on no, that wasn't just a sickness caught from running through the sewers on foot.

"I…don't know!" Robin threw his hands over his brow. He shrugged back his shoulder-length raven locks from falling into his glazed eyes with a groan. "You…you aren't from here..But, De Larosa told us..you…She was _so_ real to me! And….I wanted to be happy. But not as a killer who let himself down…I've been on the run for almost a month." He protested suddenly to the blonde. "No one caught me until you came and…now we are **BOTH** gonna have-

"You…" Aiden stepped back, alarmed by the ebony teen's shifting gaze. "_Why_ LaRosa? What's she got to do with?-

"She _promised_ it." The younger boy smiled weakly. "That... that you'd talk and I could be normal like my mom, like **everyone** asked." The boy was surprisingly easy to appeal to. Aiden knew this too well by how this meeting had been a set up. He wasn't speaking right.. Robin was just desperate. This, was…A way to get this caged and flaming canary bird to sing!

"What did she **do** to you?" Aiden growled through clenched teeth as he braced himself into a fighting stance, making the younger preteen wince in defense. This was a chance to get back to his earth in one piece, his last shot. LaRosa though from what he had seen inside the ward, wasn't just Roku's next target as the dragon started to inhale, his breath creating a smoldering storm deep in the demi- god's throat. Aiden dropped to the floor and put a fist to the hard concrete of this underground labyrinth. He had to get a muzzle for that fire breather. Getting lost in an obvious fog was never the answer!

/

Dick Grayson and his team had nearly cracked the code to Shoji's office door. No sooner had they been let inside, did Kori's gasp resound as mightily as he recalled of a Tamaranean mother's empathy.

"Dear _blathnark_!" Starfire was not the only one gaping is awe at the great big gaping hole in the director's office wall. Gar wasn't there to add much, let alone fuss as he'd stuck by Glen and Henry in an earlier run around the building. Agatha was stunned and could not move an inch. Whatever had towered over this spot before, still had a very big vendetta against the corporate giant's main middleman.

"I'll read the room out with my powers..." Raven shook the shock away as she got down to business.

"It.._nngh_ this aura is complicate…**AH**!"

She was knocked back, the wind from her lungs a struggle back to life as a sudden, sharp pain led towards her skull, up her wrists as the empath toppled a few inches from the place she'd been collecting some valuable information.

"Raven!" Dick and Kori, little Agatha, Cyborg, Kayu and the Kaien in his 'shadowed' form as an incomplete self and fire fox, ran as fast as they could to collect the coping psychic- Raven's head was shaking as her hands were withdrawn completely from the spot. She had seen too much. What was Aiden doing? Why was the spirit world order so clueless as to what was about to happen... should they fail here...?

Those emotions, they matched the perfect prefect. She turned to look her determined bunch of heroes in the eye, eye to eye as Raven exhaled;

"We aren't the only ones." She frowned. "Then, where is-

A doorway to the heroes' surprise appeared by the bookcase where the Titan had fallen.

"Unknown passageway? Cool...ehh, kind of...-

They were picked up, head first and thrown in through a gaping void. A gust with magic sewn into every fiber of its making; Gar was sure now that he's seen every Johnathon Questa (not using the real name) episode, not since the first pilot. A well- established trap!

Raven cried out as her team was dragged inside. A vacuum of air pulling them down, down in through to the abyss, to wherever this rabbit hole did go.

~ We have to get out of heeere!~ Kaien shrieked as Aggie followed suit, then Cy, Kori and lastly the tunnel narrowed to allow a speck of light at the end of their hopeless drop into the conglomerate's secret basement.

/

Aggie's eyes fluttered open to seek out what had just occurred; a reason for the odd voice which still puzzled her, and if Chaos was closing in on their group from afar. In her bones she felt ill, slapping the concrete as if to hold back a retching sound, her pain from her ribs was…human...

"I…blood…!" As she'd given Hecate her word, a cackle descended from the above. The walls of this terrible place encompassed the k.o'd group of heroes. She felt like the only survivor after a major battle against some demonic force. As if Aggie had expected Lady Light or Athena to return from their home worlds, none of that mattered. Aggie grunted, trying to force her arms to pull her, drag her up and away from the messy pool coming out of her own gnarled wound. It was a human bit of flesh, a terrible…terrible pause that held her still as she soon felt quite faint from the scent. This demon was controlling her fears from the above. She decided finally to confront it with a shout;

"WHO **ARE** YOU!?"

Aggie was hurt, afraid to breathe in too early..Too deeply as her heart inside her ribcage bulged by the wincing heat from her –

~ This will not kill you. I want you just to _suffer_! ~ A crone's voice, a voice of a wraith that was both a misery and a relief as Aggie snorted back while trying to remain brave.

"I'm not going to die, until you are unmasked!"

~ You have lost your magic power! ~ The voice noticed this as Agatha's speak had been lost, her eyes wide again as she searched the ceiling of this doomed cavern for more answers. "Wrong! I…I am... You will be **sorry**!" Aggie winced again as she headed towards where Dick's bod lay. He had no such wounds, she was glad. Yet the stupid wraith laughed on as Aggie groaned out.

~You would rather be in charge! _Quite_ the opposite now! **Eh**? ~

"Then…you know so much?" Aggie huffed and threw a glowing palm of light over the Titan's side. "You'll have to come to terms with knowing all the answers!~ Her gaze of light was filled to the brim, her powers immense and masked from sight from the terror above the team's heads.

~AAAGH! _GODDESS_!~

The figure dispersed into smoke as Aggie dropped her arm down. Her brow was sweating. Ravenna's reincarnate must have dealt with the same drain in magic. She fell as Nightwing groaned; lifting up his head to see Aggie lying over his still resting form, his eyes bleary by the lack of light.

"_aagg_…_Wh_-

"Titans?!" He rose, bringing Aggie to realize that she'd spilled no such blood. It was all to scare her…How awful.

~That was a _dosey_ …~ Kaien in his fox shadow form received a grunt* from Kayu; his instincts had changed the guardian of the air into Calumon, the mini incarnation of time and space. The big-eyed spirit looked up with a grumble, seeing that he and Uncle Kai were about even here.

"Are Rae and big bro Cy alright?" Calumon asked with a small frown in Dick's direction.

"Kori is here!" Cy pulled away as he'd shielded the royal mama from the fall down below.

"Thank you so much, friend Victor...!" She smiled and rushed to give the male a hug. Dick sighed and smiled too, glad that his friends had the couple's backs always. Yep. He and the Titans were still family after so long, that was a big wake-up call as the ex- leader wondered how Damien Wayne was doing with _his_ new team.

"No problem, lil' lady." Victor Stone graciously grinned, knowing Beast 'man' would be pretty psyched to know that the big guy had stolen his line. Where ever the green titan was, he had to be keeping the peace as usual between interdimensional agents. Sort of...

/

Anna paced; she had finally seen her family after losing her grip within that tunnel. Now, they were there. Waiting for Aiden with their listless gazes to the sky, an ever-present reminder of what was yet to come thanks to Manifesto's last act. Or was it Charl; who had duped the teens and their allies more than once in a whole time apart from the rest of their families, friends. It was a struggle, utter disorder as Anna continued to make even Lisa Viscado nervous. Her eyes could not keep up as she bit into her tender lower lip. Her lungs quieted as the wait continued, the stand still. Aiden was not coming…He had been pulled into the void where no one could reach.

~You can! ~ Alicia screamed in and out of her brain, her influence a coping mechanism as Lisa pushed her thoughts back. ~ I am not going to do anything with your powers yet. ~ Lisa stated to the light half- Ethereal.

~You'll lose him! ~

"No..." Lisa rasped as her head shook, involuntarily and out of a panic.. The two foxes; Haru and Kaede sniffed the air as their kitsune tails rose up. "You are ...~

~That cackle! ~ Kaede's haunches rose up again, higher than her sister's. "Communicating with the enemy!" She snarled as Lisa awoke from a trance, or so the heroes had figured.

"Stop this at once, onee- san!" Haru batted the older fox's paws as if to scold her, for she was being quite cross with her sister. "I sense something! Do you not see?" She quizzed as Gar Logan raised up his ears from beside Glen and Henry Vanderbilt.

"I see a bully and a stressed-out fox." Ami frowned as she walked up to the elder protector. Kaede immediately lowered her guard. "Ami- chan? Why do you not see her aura? It has-

"But that isn't why we are here." Ami shook her head and went to comfort the nerve racked Lisa as she wept on the inside for her ex- boyfriend and childhood companion. "We just, can't fall apart here. He wouldn't want me to lose my cool." Ami smiled anxiously as she patted Lisa on the back softly.

"The imp escaped." Kaede noted to her comrades as her eyes became fixated on a passage past the song writer's shoulder. "Stay here." She flew off out of nowhere, having had Haru to scold her for recklessly finding trouble before- though she was hunting. It was what fox spirits were known for doing.

Protecting their valued allies or masters to the death.

~Ami is too blind to know of the Princess's full abilities just now. ~ She decided as the light behind her tails suddenly went dim.

~**AHA**! ~ Having been correct that something was in fact there, Kaede lashed out. Her eyes as slits and lethal blades by each finger. Her knives sharp as they tore at the darkness, struggling to prove their mistress's assumptions as the honest truth.

"I will _not_ let you escape!" She pounced as the figure turned out to be someone other than who the fox had expected. Kaede was stunned, holding back to her had never seemed so difficult. She growled face to face with the old ally in her own way. Her own way to keep Ami and the others from losing their way in this ridiculous haunt.

"Tousle her feathers! Go ahead and _do_ _it_!" A lighter from Nina's pocket accompanied them, leaving Kaede to let down her claws. The darkness had gone as a frazzled Aria spat back with a huff in irritation; "What _manners_ you kits possess is beyond this deity's knowing!"

Her flowing hair now was left sitting right in front of her cerulean blue eyes, the sea witch glowered back at the foxes with her bros knit tightly. She was getting an ugly migraine from playing nice all the time Ah, but still... She was just fine and dandy- even her dress had been protected by the sea demoness's powers. "This _did_ cost a fortune to design!" The daemon siren continued to throw insults poor Kaede's way. A real hime, indeed. Not the great kind of princess, leaving the foxes to question their own ethics by a stray, bad seed.

"Are you _daft_? Am I _not_ bright enough to see in total darkness, whale- woman!" She dragged herself up as Nina and her comrades Ayane, Isa, and Astarte as Sara Santiago added to the crowd. Kaede bounded back over to be with her old allies. He her sister's sheer joy, her current team was feeling the love as well.

"You had a rough flight?" Henry teased as Aria sent him daggers by an unwelcoming jostle to her unbridled pride. "We, had some complications." Ayane interrupted, somewhat apologetically.

Gar tried to tear the two spirits away, brushing them back into in another corner in his form of a large rhino, to stop the two from ripping each other's heads clean off. It seemed Kaede still wanted nothing to do with most outsiders since the last attack on her mind had left the kit to remain rather, tense.

"See, sister?!" Haru sighed heavily as if she'd been right all along, or thought that she had at _least_ been on par with her other golden guesses. "Was I _ever_ foiled ...Apologies..." Kaede rolled her eyes rudely, earning a sniff from both Aria and the kit's closest living kin.

"Kaede- _onee_\- san!" (typo I am absolutely aware of it!) Haru flushed up, with her cheeks as inflated balloons by all the hot air she'd been holding on to.

"You made it this far, where are the rest?" Astarte took a good look at the spot the group had been staring at for a good two hours, ignoring the spat going on. It was anything but quiet here now..

Ron waved at the goddess as if she were lost in a trance, staring in only one direction for what looked to be an eternity.

By the look of their gazes against the dirtied concrete material, her eyes had to know every inch of their fears by now. Something wasn't where or when it should have originally been. A person...

"What is this?" Both Santiago's form and Sakurano Ayane took note as the secretary shook her head, puzzled by the rest of the group's lack of enthusiasm as she sighed despondently. "Has Shoji not-

"He is currently elsewhere with mom and dad I think." Anna scratched her skull and tried to not to seem to disappointed by the split. Ron mocking agreed with a nod, as did Zan and Dami.

Astarte didn't like this Miss Grayson's attitude; it wasn't going to save a life if she decided to leave out any important details. Being a spirit leader herself, Sara wondered if Ann **was** afraid to give away names, as to not seem disloyal to someone else. Not as a future corporal, not as a fleet captain to her crew of outcast teenaged mutants, this was a crime and Ann knew it far too well to act as one might have in an American high school classroom. "Keeping important intel from your commanding officer is punishable-

"He wasn't able to stop it either!" Anna gave the stink eye directly to Lisa Viscado as she'd come clean about their current state of affairs, instead. Sara walked past her young soldier and was hopeful. At least nothing would come of her standing about had she not used a threat like that! It was a tactic for others more able to …negotiate. Anna was still a teen, naive and not nearly close enough or in reach to her goal as say, Nina the Android and daughter of Maya (the now deceased Priscilla Dearheart.)

"Then, who?" She asked., expecting a full answer this time.

"Don't tell her, Lisa." Anna stood her ground as she tried to steer the rock star gal away from the war goddess's hands. Damian stood up too, though was speechless by how reckless this fire breathing Lt. really was being, to go up against her commanding officer like that.

"I. **Have** to."

"And if she decides to lock him up? _All_ of us?" Pressed Anna.

"Are you _really_ going to save him or put him in even **more** danger?!" Lisa shouted back, before the seal over her lips had come undone. She then gave in and decided to announce with a weary sigh;

"He was taken away by the dragon. This time it has to be personal."

"**No**!"

"_Ann._ Lower your-

"That..." The one to have cried out wasn't her, yet the other form known as Lori Ainsley , as her blue eyes had returned to show from behind Ayane's now resting consciousness. "The dragon should be lost, gone and no longer a threat to your worlds!"

"I don't know. But the stupid imp..." Damian bit the inside of his cheek.

"He was toying with us, with Aiden…B-

"He was going to try to rid the Golden Dawn's energies from Aiden, leaving him a brainless soldier." A small voice came from behind the wary read head and young son of Bruce Wayne.

"W- Wait?" Anna looked to see who had spoken those words within their growing army's reach. "What is going on! Am?! -

"Ami- chan…why do you claim that so." Dami, Zan and the rest were left waiting, awaiting the youngest Grayson's reply with open minds for the moment.

"I knew before, when I was being controlled by Manifesto." Ami started; her eyes tired from seeing so many visions thanks to the Goddess Amaterasu's power. The teens, Guardians, Gods and Goddesses were without a way to tell Amelia Grayson, that she had to be mistaken somehow. It was true. _Ami_ was why the damned Charl, Marcus, Manifesto, even Roko had lashed out. Her power of the sun was also of prophecy, and the demons craved it as a beacon of their very own somehow!

"And, finally I'm able to remember something else I felt…When I was Lady Amelia…Roku's not our real enemy..."

"Stop it right now Ami." Anna grit her fists, frustrated by how the youngest child here was starting to sound just like the girl's weak-willed teenaged brother. "Aiden was nuts and you cannot seriously believe that same crap as…He was possessed earlier too, doesn't anyone remember?!" She reminded the tween and her whole team. "Officer Santiago, my sister might be connected to that sun goddess, but she can't-

"If I told you that we believe Ami, would you think to defy my words over your own?" Astarte left Anna Dami and Zan stunned, plain dumbfounded by the question.

Lori however jumped in. "I do not approve of this!" She refuted. "My ally and his children, his family are still that criminal's prime targets if the dragon continues to hunt them. He hurt already so many without seeking any reprieve from his late teachers, a traitor on both sides of the spectrum of the living... He is a coward who…My own body was scarred." She proclaimed with tears not yet being shed. "Ayane has revived a portion of my lost heart, yet my own body…also cannot forget."

"So then get even, he's just a bad dragon. But I saw something else, the mirror was showing me a vision…I remember someone, crying…" Ami remembered with a frown.

She tried to dig for the memory. It was fuzzy to her though. It was as if someone did not want the truth to be revealed just yet. Anna grit her fingers tightly into two fists as she tried to go past Astarte, but to no avail.

"Why can't I see my sister?" Anna strained, she had to add nothing else as this could weaken her relationship with her commanding officer. Sara Santiago stood tall in front of the nearly eighteen-year-old red-head, while even Damian as Robin of the Titans looked sorry for her.. "You aren't going to act with a clear head? Then no bonding. Ami is correct. We, should have listened to Richard back then."

"You're saying this _now_?" Damian raised a brow, expecting a half-heartfelt apology from the deity's lips next. Maybe even a peace treaty proposal?..

Nightwing turned red as if this was all up to him to stop a rampaging deity of the past. Her decision was firm. Huh, it reminded him of Bruce by how she was determined to right a wrong so late into the game.. Even after a massive flop.

"I was afraid to admit it then, now I'm as torn as Anna is. Isis's words are still ringing in my ears since those olden years..." She smiled softly. At first, Nina could not believe her eyes or her mechanically crafted, perfect ears. Sara was an iron wall! Wasn't she... Titanium, but made out of glass? Whatever that memory was, it was probably a good dream to dream up in secret for the top commander. Too bad the goddess had just revealed, it was unofficially considered a softer side to her personality to the younger officer and mecha- human. Her demeanor as of right now was 'the underling worried for her superior's well- being.'

Aria though oddly enough, somewhat as well seemed unperturbed by the red headed soldier's tantrums; seeing as Astarte was the counter deity of the Animus to her feminine self, Inanna or Ishtar, Aria was nothing more than an eager onlooker currently seeking a way out. She looked eager enough to seek her throne out back on Mount Olympus, Nina snorted as the sea-witch paid barely a lick of attention to the android's invading lenses.

"We have to wake up Raven." Nightwing motioned to the barely conscious Titan as she winced by the ebbing pain, thanks to her healing powers and Ayane's extra aid. "I agree, and then we may dispute further…Accusations to a fault. Does that work fine by you, Soldier?" Astarte asked the youngest of her task force. Ann rolled her eyes, a second time she'd have to deal with throwing in the towel before a problem had been fixed.

"Sure, then Why not extend my sentence and throw my butt in the brig once we get back to the ship, Captain-

"I'll take that as a request, personally." Grinned the superior, who had Kori on pins and needles by the goddess's gleaming sharp set of teeth. (Well, to any mother whose baby was being harassed, to her they were as knives.) To Ann, it was just their normal means of communication since she'd learned how hard the deity could push her to the brink of survival. She was used to being led, never leading.

"Don't you worry. Let's move on out, finally." Anna dug her hands into her cargo pants pockets and started to walk towards what she had hoped to be, a way out of crazy town central.

/

Still testing for 20 million things that could be wrong with me after surgery. No gallbladder should mean I can go back to my stories on the go, right? Nope. Still symptoms are keeping me from finishing this part arc , so wait and see and stay positive. Everyone dealing with the virus overseas, be strong. If we can live through suffering every day, who knows what we can accomplish as a whole. So, if ever this does reach its completion, let me know if it was legible or just plain fiction right off the bat that has no real sentimental value for ma' readers. If not, read on and stay curious to find out a ton more; Also Pylori test came back negative so it is a functional disorder I'll have to bear with a bit longer. Next comes the super tough part...Finding a foothold on this next arc's head turning plot! Already knoe what's in store!

Who is behind the mysterious crone's supposed voice? The crone toying with an already stressed out Agatha is-

Will Cecilia Daia finally reveal her latest news to her team, or is something smore than simply sinister really afoot according to the dark sorceress's actions?

Is the fabled and fallen from grace, red dragon lord Roku able to let Aiden Grayson leave his web of lies in the past, or will the timeline swallow up our chosen before he can free the dragon from his years under ANOTHER oppressor! Remember, on Wattpad I am working on Raku's origin story of the Forbidden/Forgotten myth. Check out as The Veil of Time series to see just who that kid crying in the dark really was. Just a click away with no need for an account, just view at your own discretion- is rated M for safety reasons. (Lilu is a succubus after all.) Stay well, strong and curious for more. That just about wraps things up for this bookworm! Till chapter five! Stay tuned and to all of you fighting today's crisis globally, my hope is that this site and these amateur stories might be at least some entertainment for the days we have yet to come. Be well Fanfictionites. Stay strong and hopeful.


	5. Chapter 5

Teen Titans; New Generations; Chaos Round Arc; Part 1; Chapter 4: Where she Dwells – Brought Back to Life by the Most Unlikely of my Foes.

/

As the Teen heroes of tomorrow delved deeper; passing through the combined twists and turns of what had once been a byproduct of Takahara Corporations' many labs set throughout Japan and the rest of the known mortal world; Raven wasn't on her toes for kicks this time. Her radar and Richard's especially were on high alert- as if a devious monstrosity had risen from the grave or, was planning to ambush the heroes for the second time around.

~I do not approve of this method. ~ Was what Astarte; who'd gladly aided the heroes until her words rung out, impatiently and against Anna's boiling lobes from the goddess's left side.

~We have a ways to go. ~ She presented with her braided scalp swung the other direction towards her crew of daemons and guardian spirits.

Even Ron agreed as Anna gawked with Damian Wayne rolling his eyes in disgust at the kit's loyalty.

~Then why not a portal as before-

~Aria. ~ Ayane redirected her concerns towards the flamboyantly dressed, siren sister. "If Shoji could only talk to us from the other plane." She mused under her breath.

"Brilliant then!" Henry threw his arms up ecstatically. "What have we then to lose by attempting AGAIN the clearly improbable!?"

A bark of a laugh from the side- kick came as Robin; Damian Wayne shook his head. Henry Vanderbilt reared his head curiously the cool character's way. "So, does an interdimensional road trip sound like a plan to you then?" He quizzed the wizard drop out harshly, his arms crossed while testing this witty magician's willpower in the process.

"WE can help you out with that." The guardians; Ron, Aria, Kay, and Anna herself though reluctant, posed together as the rest watched on. "Are you sure, Annie?" Dick asked his nearly eighteen-year-old fighter child. "You'll be expected to be drained a lot-

"If it's to help my brother out, I don't really want to stand around doing zip." She cut her dad off quickly. "Aunt Rachel?" Anna turned to her since recuperating Titan ally with a small smile. She was embarrassed to even think about setting her poor heart up to hurt so badly, but…Aiden was-

"I'm in this too, sis!" Ami pouted and stomped over to her older sibling with a grumble. "You and I are sun- sisters for life!"

"But, Am!-

Kori was given a sad shake of the head as her youngest…Ah! She had just sassed her mama!?

"I _object_ to this!" Kaede finally conceded. She cared for Ami, due to her life now being connected to Lady Amaterasu's own life force. Should she waste away here...

Kaede's fists turned right into claws and nails only as her emotional side easily unfurled.

Kaede shook her head roughly upset, though a set of fingers which easily found their way onto her shoulder stopped the fox from fighting this new development. She recognized that presence far too well. "Haru?" She turned around to meet the shorter kitsune - protector's shimmering eyes, tears not yet deciding to fall. "No, let the future Sun child do as she must to protect our worlds, together."

"Everyone!" Astarte broke the moment apart with her commanding echo. "This is the time to decide or die trying."

~Then let's GO!~ Ami set the beat only with a pulse of power as the chain of light from her fingertips conjoined the guardians to erupt. Their powers combined could aid in the release from this spot…Ami bit her lip then shouted as the few within the ring of energy that she had established felt her energy deepen. Above them was not a portal. It was a transportation craft that stole bodies from a space, without the need of a spiraling vortex into the physical world!

~Incredible! ~ Aria felt the power lift her spirits as the high seas of her energy thrashed. She _indeed_ was always to remain the seas queen by reputation.

~Dear gods…. This! Power! I feel **amazing**! ~ Kay was grinning while his form of a sky prince to the Celestial realm had returned. Ron as well, as his sky warrior self was super charged and ready to brawl onwards.

~Ami…!~ Anna at least could see the figure she'd soon meet years later; a teenaged Ami with a witch's craft at her beck and call without fail…

And Anna, also saw something that made her voice almost break…

~That's. ~ She was trapped inside a vision. A girl with flaxen hair, young and living in the Victorian days of London life- she was the picture-perfect child…Until…. A fog slipped over the child's mind. Anna screamed as if the fog had her by the throat. A demon….Something!-

/

"Miss Olivia? Dear, where in heavens has, she scampered off to?" A nanny who was plum purple from dashing about the manor, the robust woman looked ready to send the hounds after their quarry.

The girl in question; an Olivia Briarwood, was the only daughter of a very wealthy family living in 1876 London. She had a ball trying to outwit the cook whenever her stomach desired a snack before the family's evening meal. Right now, lunch was going to be out in the garden. Olivia's dear mother was supposed to have been back from her expose…Though Olivia frowned before crawling towards the door on her hands and knees. Sneaking about wasn't what women of her stature did. She was only a child! Her mother was tardy and I wasn't fun to play by ones' self all the time!

At age twelve, Olivia had very few achievements besides what had been laid before her, and what that was supposed to accomplish? "I still do not understand why father is never here in the first place! His work runs long into the night and he turns out to be such a bother for mother and I…Sigh*.." She clambered up onto her knees as her dirtied stockings had a few bits of stain to them from an earlier run through the courtyard. A silly gardener's protégé; Bryan O'Hare had pushed poor Olivia into a mess of earthy petunias. Now, her father wouldn't be coming around from his meetings until the girl's mother had first gotten a hold of the unruly couple's daughter. Olivia whimpered as she clung to her only means of an escape from that dreaded Elizabeth, the child's caretaker whenever Olivia's mother was as today. Late, and too late to save her child from that worrisome-

"Olivia!"

Uh-oh...!

Olivia bolted from the doorway. It was blocked for now. She had only a few inches from the ground out the window. It was the first floor anyhow. She could leave right through the window out to the garden!

"I have to, hurry…!" Olivia gulped as she rushed towards the window pane to undo its fragile latch. With a hefty push upwards, her efforts had not been in vain. Olivia forced her feet to touch the grassy path before scuttling off towards her only sanctuary. There, she could see to her mother's whims and explain that the boy had wrongfully left her stockings in shambles. Maybe she could see to him losing his dessert privileges-

~Where is...~

She turned towards a path that almost looked brand new. A divine tree with strikingly bold fruits stretched out to encompass her sights. One dangling branch however had an unfamiliar fruit…One colored in a paint, splashed completely golden. The apple did look as if it were calling out to her- yet apples could not speak!

"I suppose it is better than rushing back to mother right away..." She muse to herself and stepped slowly closer to the unearthly tree. "I feel parched…" She gingerly brought a set of fair fingers to her throat. "It…I want!"

~You want to leave your life behind? ~

Olivia was unsure, the apple was making her mouth water terribly. A withdrawal would last unless…Unless this Eden was so real, that she could feast on a single morsel!

~One taste…. ~

"Y-Yes…?"

~One request…. For one wish?~

"Wish?" Olivia's jaw wouldn't close. She was still drooling a mess into her dress's high collar. "The apple!" She said to the tree. Her demand was met with a shimmer from the special fruit's exterior surface. The branches seemed to wave as if laughing at the child's delusional state. "No! Why not?" She stomped her foot and came closer towards the swaying relic.

~My request, you leave this life, for the bliss this gem I bring. ~

"M..._ My?..._" Olivia wiped a bit of drool back with her long sleeve. "M…._ Why_? What a-

~The _apple_. ~ The tempting voice interrupted. ~I'll have it rot if you cannot decide. So, do you want to make a pact, with me? ~ The color looked ready to turn the glistening object into a rancid piece of trash. Rubbish as the girl formed the words she could;

"...No! I **want** that _apple_! I'll take it! I want that fruit now!" The vision was of course born of her fear, while the girl's daydream had easily manifested itself by the wicked tree's magic power. Better for she to figure out the rest in a century of more…

~THEN **CONGRATS**! ~ The tree readily dropped the apple into the blonde child's shaking palms as the girl hungrily gobbled up the treat. While all of time stood still, Olivia lost her place in the world wih one measly tree laughing down on the brat's unsuspecting fall. Olivia licked her fingers clean before failing to hold back a mighty-

~BUURP!~ As the feeling passed once the air had cleared, Olivia's stomach had found the treat to be…that..She swayed to stand with a set of fingers to her temples. Her brow had begun to sweat profusely as the tree continued to monitor its contractor's progress from above. She wasn't feeling very…

"I…This…What...Was…?.." Olivia held her stomach and groaned aloud, loudly before not the tree, yet a dark witch with a raven mane, dark eyes and a wicked grin upon her deadly purple shade with eyes of a temptress, she must have been a hallucination, as Olivia gasped up in terror. Where then-

~Lady Eris, though disembodied for the moment. ~ The wicked cretin introduced herself before grimacing at her sorry, bodiless appearance. ~Though due to your generous donation, my soul might _just_ live on…In you! ~

_"W-ehat?...AANNGHH!"_ She retched and bent over to not let her eyes become further clouded by that snake; the witch now who stood gawking at the child's physical pain as if it were, amusing to her.

The child was so nauseous that she could see double vision through her no longer perfect blue eyes... A witch! In the strange tree!?

~Deary, deary…_Don't_ you recognize an unofficial pact? Oh, for bodily transfer?_..Oh_! Then you **are** a useless mortal I take it…Well, no matter! This works out perfectly for the both of us either way.. ~

The apple's contents had been to bind the pact for a very long time. This child was the Goddess of Chaos's ticket to the present era! Olivia's stomach was burning up, her eyes clouding back a if the life in them had vanished.

~Dead enough! Make room for my efforts too, child! ~ She cackled aloud before diving headfirst into the chest of her newest puppet. Olivia screamed before her cries had been silenced by an impenetrable force field. The black, inky glow of further miasma prone damage died with the girl's last hope. All for one taste, one bite of Eden's greatest sin.

Greed, Gluttony, Sloth, Avarice and Rage…She had been fooled without fighting back..

The girl's lifeless body on the ground did not stir for a few moments. That was, until it coughed up the muck that was a turned one's blood turned to tar, with her wobbly human legs that only hope the now possessed child owned for herself.. After slowly shaking her mass of golden waves away, the new Olivia in question preceded in attaining her next goal. Or set of goals as a new brain was in charge of this puny body.

While examining her new look in the garden's lone reflective pool set beside the wilting magic tree, the witch decided that a tea party participant wasn't her very favorite role to play…Though, she needed to refuel while in this form.

"As if that mother of yours will even notice the difference!" Olivia, now as Eris in mind though not her young body chuckled and tossed her blonde mane back from right before her fair shoulders. Her eyes though were going to change, blue alone would make Eris into a laughingstock. ~Pretty blue, but I think you _should_ be seeing double. ~ She grinned before skipping off to find a certain ne'er do well. "Bryan?" She sang out. "I am going to give you personally, my thanks. This body was right for the taking thanks to an untapped bit of hatred. It was easy, she is as shallow as the olden kings of my era! No better, though no matter." Eris quieted her new form down by composing herself . Starting with this child's wardrobe for one..

Eris plotted on as the blonde's body snatcher took to the courtyard, where a time to dance among the enticing scent of roses, would turn out to be a bloody good welcome home for the child's dowdy mama. Olivia giggled and pulled out her prize; a golden apple in which Eris lived to propagate a thousand times. She swooned over the object before taking a bite. With a soft, muffled moan, Eris had decided to spell out disaster - for a thousand cuppa teas of earl grey! This, was going to be a delight all the way into the future...She could already taste her conquest . As flavorful as even the body- napper's golden apple of discord.

/

Anna's eyes opened. She saw the room where poor Ava and Christopher were fighting off a trouble maker from way back.

"How did they find!-

"Ave!" Ami shouted before the link had ended; she fell onto her bum only inches from the ground. Sorely, her emotional state was better off before the group had decided to go along with the tweeen's ingenious plan.

~Ami! Dad! Anna, Mom..!~ Ava shouted out in echo through the mind- speak of her spirit heritage. Glen jumped into the fray with Henry as they dashed in to help whomever Ava had been forcing back. It turned out to be that someone was fighting other than Chris by the princess's side.

"Majesty….Catalina!?-

~Ronald! Throw a bolt quickly!~ Astarte interrupted as Kay jumped forth in his warrior of the sky guise. ~ Glad you could throw us a bone there!~ He teased as Catherine shot back a glare his way, before blocking what looked to be Roko's clawed fingers.

~Look _out!_ ~ Kori shot a bolt with Ron's as they both aided in pushing the demi- daemon furthest from he prize; Marcus's unmoving form was levitating only feet from them as this seemed to be a simulation hall to test prototypes.

~How loaded _is_ your boss?!~ Gar gawked while in a form resembling a mossy green wyvern. Sakurano Ayane nervously scratched the side her face and was unable to reply calmly to that comment…

_**Enough** of this mess! ~ _Astarte threw herself into the fight. She wielded a staff much sharper than Anna's special bo staff from the Phoenix. To cut down her enemies, or to only have an eyes or teeth for one individual..?

"Ann! We'll back her up!" Nina was too easy to follow into battle as Roko felt pressured already. Catalina's solar magic and lunar craft was too much as Roko's reborn battery, was already running out o juice. She huffed and threw a snarl Dick Grayson's way, as if to tell him that his fated timeline was why she could never escape this realm completely. Ami jumped in an shoved her fan of Amaterasu's sect up , right into the dopple Roko's way. ~No more fighting! ~ She shouted, leaving the room baffled.

**~WHY?~** Roko hissed as she felt it; the pressure on her body's return was coming-

~He is alive, but you have to stop now or it'll be too late!~ Ami responded, leavinng the double self's eyes to soften. As if recalling..

She shot a glare Amelia's way and then fire from her lungs exploded, shooing the mini- miko from the daemon's self's path.

~If he shall not take up the crown again…Then I will surpass the dragon! I WILL BECOME!-

**~_STOP THIIIS_!~**

A vortex wound down from above, its light something of a mystic energy as the dopple froze. She looked into those eyes o maroon and sorrow, only to see it…

Sands swept past as the form was a serpent. A creature with the for of a desert within its make up. The room was coated in particles as a voice called out, then a second followed with the first…Seemingly less threatening than this sandy trench.

~Mom! DAD! I'm HERE! We are ok!~

~Roko; I am the self you require to thrive.~ The other voice was more than aware of the feat. Roko however stood, stunned as the form fell down slowly to meet the daemoness's gaze.

~It is over. We can no longer live as before. Return to the confines of my spirit, Raku…~

The dopple sniffled before nodding, smiling as she reached out to grip the hand of this being- before vanishing into stardust. The one who stood before the heroes and allies was a being none of the team had seen yet before.

His eyes were a ruddier maroon , his cloak a deep brown, almost black. His hair was long and raven with a tinge of brown to it. Similar to Lilith's human- complexion, he was tanned only just. The sand dispersed as the magic portal had also spat out one other.

~Aiden, Chosen of the Golden Era…I thank you for setting my spirit free from the chains that bound it, for so long..~

The face, the character ..Was a kid? And Aiden was there, right beside this mysterious new ally shaking his hand….

**"AAH!** What just _happened?"_ Henry and Gar both shouted together, aloud as loudspeakers at a ball game.

Standing tall, Astarte's eyes took to a different pair of sights. Isa was crying, as if this were an untold miracle.

Ravenna soon left her vision to meet her ally Raven's, which had the empath in shook as much as the now chronologically frozen Kay or even…

~I should no longer use my powers at this moment.~ The raven-haired boy as if knowing his fate well, turned away from his fiery haired savior, to meet the goddess Astarte's steadying gaze amidst the team's brief period of panic.

"It has been long enough, Aunt Queen Astarte."

"You.." She shook her head before summoning up a second gateway. Isa was about to halt the proceedings, though Aiden stood firmly beside his new companion.

"Out of the way, Chosen." Astarte frowned and demanded of the teen to do as was written. He refused to budge and instead answered in one sentence flat; "I'm going with him so don't try to say you can't make my day, even if you are, a... Goddess." Ami stood beside her parents, though heard also her brother take a long gulp from only feet away. Astarte raised her arm up, directing her attention towards the vortex and her two now visible, armed bodyguards. "Then you will all be joining us, in the Eternal courts to finish what was never completed. That boy is not to go free." She grit her fist with the other palm as the guards walked towards Aiden and his team. Kayu was speechless as Ayane watched in horror at the boy's treatment.

Raku...Why was he so young? Had the spell over his soul been finally broken by the king's worst enemy? Was Aiden, really going to keep that rejected prince from being put to death by the council?

"In through the portal, Lady Astarte's ordered you . " One of the bodyguards rudely shoved Aiden from behind while the docile Raku , stayed quietly beside his new companion. "I'll go, but don't hurt-

_"Hupmh."_ Astarte snorted before turning her back to the blonde and his team of human and daemon allies. "It won't be up to I." She replied and started to walk on ahead towards the glittering rift. "The council's actions have been denied due to our having allowed THAT boy life on any plane." Astarte's deep hatred was just as raw as Isa's tender memories of her time beside Azag and Abi, could never have been more than a single joy to the goddess.

"Once his thread is cut for good, you'll understand. Now, let us not waste any more precious hours over this, debate." Anna lowered her gaze to the floor. All she'd done. And now...Aiden, was right?


	6. Chapter 6

Teen Titans Chaos Round Arc Part One; Chapter 5: Forcing you to Crack- Stillborn – The Cosmic Embryo of Remorse.

/

Aiden was deterred from his goal, by the one who had made Roku's turning point, an example to behold.

"Firefighters fought through the blaze, only a few survivors, a mass amount of crashing rubble….and…" As if enveloped in the burning spittle of embers from that night at the ward, the quake only had the blonde to shudder at his recent discovery.

~Robin!~ He cried out as if fixated, figuring out where it was that he now stood; complaints of patients from inside choking on the swirling ashes bombarding his astrally – invisible lungs and brain. He could see THEIR misery. The power of the Ancient. Not, the Speak…

~You have got to be joking, A?~ Roku threw his head back from atop a fiery birth of cascading and dancing cinders, his eyes alit by his massive awakening, and his untimely reincarnated child's death to top it all off. A cherry would have been nice for this sundae he could have called a win. The tiger morpher, the sea kid everyone had…how?

~I won't let you make this-

~It came true a thousand times, brat. ~La Llorona sighed as she wafted about in her spectral guise, to rest a hand of ice onto the stunned teen's shoulder. ~ How can you be here? It will not occur as you wish. Time cannot change, Niño. Not as long as it is destined to remain a cure to we, the daemons of time's forgotten divide-

~I'm not going anywhere. ~ Aiden promised with a grunt, shoving the witch's tendrils of a dark miasma from devouring his neck. ~I didn't stop you, fine. ~ He spat the dragon's way. Roku watched with his head tilted to observe the Chosen's folly. How strange that he wasn't hurt by the boy's loss…Not enough. Something wasn't-

~I made you a promise. ~ Roku saw the fires growing from where the fire fighters had failed to quell the remainder of a few burning spaces. A blast built itself as Aiden's shoulders melted the witch's cold hands from behind him. It trembled with the ground following suite; a symphony of screeches as if the roc had come to roost, to kill off a disobedient dragon.

~Are you threatening me? And with my own element? ~ Roku was impressed despite his mockery of the child's stature. Aiden was almost a man yet. Still, his father had not told the boy just how Rokou had been defeated through the Titan's power to make his enemy, a friend.

~I'm going to try!~ Aiden roared out as the burning collision made its mark, rather startling La Llorona who was tossed aside by the blinding light in her way. Roku deflected the blow with his cloak as his counter-self had not lost all form. He was still a king, a king who would not be dethroned by this neo- tyrannical, act of treason!

~You'll have to do better than pit your fire against me, it wasn't even so much as to leave a scab – what a waste. ~ Roku took in a mighty breath before lowering his arm, only to find that Aiden was a driving force. His powerful blade of the Golden Dawn deflected the king's fire breathing attack before the demi- god could puff a single sickly sound from beneath his curved, cowardly grin.

~You!-

~Ung!~ The dragon was pushed and he did not enjoy the added nudging one bit. His eyes became slits as a snake. His form was encased in black and red with his own sword born about by his resisting magic power. ~ En Guard-

~Shut it!~ Aiden slammed his broad blade into the dragon's dragging the steely thing to collapse as a faulty manifestation without enough magic to withstand the Chosen's hit after hit. Roku was hit as if this were Aiden playing a video game- facing off against the latest 'demon lord'. Ami wasn't allowed to see this. As far as Aiden was concerned-

~You've broken me! Damn it! Like hell I'll go quietly!~ Roku's howling power erupted, though so in turn did it also vanish with a gag from deep at the bottom of the battered king's aching stomach. He spat out, loads of bile, black as night and tar! Miasma…He was…

~h-hhuu…uuu….yy…you….d-d..dieee!~~ Roku's idea of enacting his bloodthirsty rage out on the winning teammate was a long shot. He gagged, and coughed up turned blood as Aiden was soon left panting, afraid to land a new blow by what….he had accomplished…

~D…No!~ He dropped his blade and rushed over onto the rubble and dust to look don at the male on his hands and knees. Eye to eye with the dragon, something appeared from within those clouded lenses…Aiden was breathless, he reached out to cup the dying king's face…then, he heard it.

~S…s-save…m..me….~

Aiden knew that this, it was unacceptable. He got only onto one knee; his hand now moving towards the center of the king's brow. He leaned in to rest his forehead closer, keeping the dragon's heart beating to match his own. ~I'm not giving in, you are still alive…so fight it! Break free!~

The light which encompassed Aiden was of both the golden and the character Hakuro's presence as the two fled, to a warped destination where no light but the blonde's could exist. He looked down. The character was crying, clawing from inside a shell as he had started to shrink?!

~Almost…just. It's ok…shush…it's ok…I know…~ Aiden was keeping the supposed demon dragon in a void similar to a realm. Where he'd been stolen from in the first place!

~Ang! No! Gah..You…Have to relax…Please….I'm doing!-

The past came to light. A realm as vast as the deserts could ever have been erupted before the tired blonde. ~The past was a mystery to me..~

/

~That voice!~ Aiden looked down by his chest. A child cloaked in black, his hair nearly the same shade with streaks of brown, his maroon…almost gentle and frightened…or frightening.

~I was promised hope for a new life, two teachers to have me. I am nothing they claim without what I am, what I will be born into as a daemon of both sin and respect….~

~You…what is your name? ~ Aiden was pulled away as he tried to ask the boy clinging to his sweltering material. His eyes remained full of fear, fear as if fighting something deep within his memories. Then this was THAT boy's memories?

~He is not to remain! ~ A queen with the grace of one sat atop a throne of white alabaster. Her eyes stared down at this child in the picture of a scorned past life. ~That boy is your crime! Send yourselves away now, or his and your very lives shall forever be begotten. ~

The family; a mother with the fragility of a child herself, and an elderly woman with eyes as straight as a steady plateau both looked to gripping the boy before his words had come to reach the dastardly figure so high and mighty.

~Who? What is she saying? Why can't-

It all ended with a new reel of film into the slot. The spinning wheel did so turn as Aiden continued to comfort the boy while he too had to relive the child's depressing past, his eyes seeing much more than he'd originally bargained for. The timing couldn't have been better. The wheel had spun itself, for the space to have landed on a scene that must have left any if ever ANY child forever scarred.

A death; of family and of a gruesome one where a woman's head had been tossed into the dark waters. A past, a scene of sand upon more sandy dunes. Aiden's throat went raw, though not with anticipation. The child in his arms was still sweat, droplets and visible on the boy's paling tanned skin. Though tanned as his Sumerian heritage, the child wasn't to care about his outward complexion. He wanted to leave, to get away from this reminder. The horrors of his messy and fragile, yet miserable existence in the desert world…All before he-

~It's ok…please stay calm , for me…Don't cry…I see that you..~ Aiden gulped, finding it difficult to talk to a boy so unlike himself; who had possibly been starved of proper affection and praise since…It was too complicated to analyze right then. ~She, you know who it was that died..

~ It…Was-

~None of your concern! _None_ of it!~ Right then the child lashed out and pushed Aiden off, his arms unlinked as the child tried to find an exit that existed outside this pit from within his saddened, lonely heart. Aiden called out, though the child levitated by his toes afloat inside the dark space. He looked left, right, breathing so deeply and rapidly that the boy believed his situation to be utter turmoil! Aiden decided not to wait for an answer. Then and ready to pounce, he dove after the kid who yelped out; afraid to continue the scene, as a howl of laughter echoed through the void's barren walls.

~I will gladly see to this young man, becoming just as I intend him to…~

Just as a shining beam from a stray lightning strike, Aiden knew what that voice was. Rather, who it belonged to without blinking twice. The child was reduced to a solemn weeping as he shoved the teen hero back with a windy gush of his powers. His oversized clothing was darker, and darker still; as a shadow without a tinge of starlight to keep it visible into the night, he had become another… Even as the boy started to slowly fade…While smog covered the scene where the Strix queen had been displayed doing indecent things with…Oh god…

**~She!?~** Aiden couldn't believe it. _She_ had groomed him, this way **first**? Was that considered a crime to the council _still_ anymore? Is _that_ why he was a monster? For being forced to (once again, Wattpad story, tells the whole thing from where it will end as the dragon's unfinished tale to the present. Veil of time the forbidden/forgotten myth , check it out!) have relations in a whore's den by the demoness's coercing? Oh, Aiden felt his gut rumble by what came next.

~The kid…They called him…..~

_~I offer to you-serpent of!_

A blood ritual of sacrifice…the lug the boy had dealt with, his mother's killer, lay in a heap with his head just as the boy's parent had been. Be-headed as the lout deserved, sacrificed to a deity…of the most incredible distinction . A psych pomp that was-

~_I'm not going to make you sorry, dear teacher!_ ~ The boy was smiling while the shadowy child from the corner of Aiden's eyes looked at his old self…tears not yet reforming. ~I…failed them…I was cruel. They hurt me…but…~ He looked at his own two hands cloaked in miasma now that never seemed to wish to leave. ~Abi…. Isis, Hathor…. Thoth…Lord Dreamwake…and….My, Azag…father..~ The boy collapsed in mid- air to his knees, ashamed of himself as the miasma turned an icy blue.

~_The isles are a place for learned minds to-_

A scene someplace colder; a world where Harriet Porter (on purpose) wasn't a budding magician's student, though this child was. While Aiden still had yet to discover the boy's true name.

It was by the shores, in the gardens where a character so very slim, fair and powerful, taught the ebony youth that it was ok to own something so strong from within. Then, the scene again, phased out…A study littered with shelves; books upon magic tomes, and three bullies Aiden noted-

_~Marcus?...~He_ gawked at the scenario, the two other children who had tried to protect the youthful heir an deity Azag's pupil, though alas…

Marcus was a cruel individual. It was no wonder Roku would have seen to his dismissal such as he'd done to so many others...Borgges , a boy with too many problems to name. Rich, with his elite family setting, though emotionally neglected by both his icy-hearted parents. They expected a winner, an heir…So this boy had reached out. Aiden almost wanted to-

~Look out! ~ The other child inside this current void was crying out? He _did_ care for, his oppressor? Aiden had lost this part, or had his brain gone through a Disnere' moment?

~Then, please listen.~ Aiden blurted out, completely unable to resist speaking up. ~There YOU are!~ He pointed at the floating projection of the boy's supposed lifetime. ~You! And no one, not even that kid, Marcus could have-

~He…wasn't…I…got them hurt…killed…maimed…by..by…~ The child's lips trembled as a figure emerged from amid the school's fabricated setting.

~Her..~ Aiden breathed, seethed in a low whisper. He shook his head and raged on with his voice lowered. ~She's not cont-

~She had _everything_! She took that….and left me without a friend…Only my fate…~ The boy's image of the witch was vivid. Her blood-stained fingers, her tail- whip and her bust that could swallow up a truckload of victims before the strix's first bite into each and every one of their throats. A man- eater. A soul stealer…And she was after, him!

Deaths , bodies piled…Not a witch, but a demon queen.

His third teacher; Lady Lilu.

The scene swept forth as Roku screamed out.

Aiden still had no idea what the boy's pains were from. Still, he assumed these WERE memories locked inside the nameless demi- youth's subconscious.

**~NO!~** The boy shook and Aiden forced his way past; miasma was nothing but whips of blackened smoke. Underneath this kid's demeanor was that of a lost life. It had to stop and…had to begin again, anew somehow!

~You know who you are! Fight it! You _can't_ change it! The fight to be set free is up to you alone!~

Aiden's message ran deep as the boy's dark arts kicked in, his power over an enigmatic solar storm- eclipsed by moonlight. ~I…I'm not! I'm sick! You _**can't**_ trust him! ~

As if warning of another's presence, Aiden did not understand who HE meant . Was that another alter form of the dragon's? Was it another monster inside the kid's forbidden dream realm? What was HE?

~You! No one else! You **CANCHANGEYOUHERE**!~

Aiden tossed out his arm, his reach was long enough to finally snap out at the boy's fluttering black cowl.

~_Ung_! ~ Roku's tears were shut back, out as Aiden dragged the stunned kid from his panic attack. His space had been violated…. Violet. Eyes…

Roku looked down; his wide eyes nearly red again by the hold this realm had over him.

~No…o! ~ He scratched out . Aiden's sword acted to block the blow. ~I'm just as angry too!~ Aiden snapped. ~You are just being selfish, but I understand now! Growing up **is** scary! ~

As Aiden cried those words out, the boy's eyes softened. ~I don't belong..~ He wept.

~Anna said the damn same thing, so did I …We don't have to belong- no. We have to live! We have to try no matter what...Or, it won't end. So, don't give up…Start to…Uh, trust me. I promise, trust yourself a little ..~ Aiden's smile was filled with tears to back his unmasked sincerity.

Roku, this kid…Their fight, then it did have a cause. The one to have done this had to have more secrets.

Something the kid could tell him in time. Time!

~Come on, we have to go back-

~The void isn't-

~Then I'll go down with you if, ohm it tells me to stay put.~ Aiden shot back a grin before reclaiming the kid's attention. Roku was too dazed to reply as Aiden brought the kid to him again. ~Let's get out, before I have to tell my parents that their baby boy's not coming home for dinner tonight.~

~Ah….But-

~Nope.~ Aiden grinned down to the kid as his younger eyes had reverted to a duller, meeker shade of maroon. ~ See? You didn't want what they had to offer. You just wanted someone to hear you. Loud and clear-

~You …You aren't mad?~

Aiden shook his head and swam on ahead with Roku still close to his chest. ~No. But I'm concerned, for you. ~ Aiden replied honestly. He realized that so many secrets had been kept from the kid, that he'd lost his faith in those who were totally dishonest. What loyalty…Rally was anymore probably sounded like a test of life or death. Poor kid was _absolutely_ shocked.

~Ok? ~ Aiden looked towards a vortex; a swirling cloud that hopefully led back to Earth in his time-line.

~Wait!~ Roku squeaked. ~ Are…A-are you sure? ~

~Never been more sure in my whole post- high school career!~ Aiden joked, sending Roku in face-first while shouting back;

~See you there soon, bro!~

The kid had lost touch with just being, happy. His life was distraught and Lilith had brought her own heir together-

~Wait..~ Aiden turned around. ~ Was….No, no big deal right?~ He leaped through the vortex with one thought still ticking away. ~ Was that just me, or was that not what I wanted to remember..~

/

Aiden was aware that something had gone wrong. Roku was still unconscious. Who was that following him?

~You really are on my list this time…I thought giving you to my student as a graduation present would have been enough. But.~

Aiden grit his fists and looked up. A shadow. Lil!-

~Yaa~! Aiden felt her icy caws bite into his chest. ~I should tear you to pieces for trying to tamper with my perfect creation. Without my craft, your little wandering sinner over there would have been dead in the void for all eternity! To you, he is simply mortal. Far from it.~ Ghoulish, this was a manifestation of what remained of the old Lilith's memories. While the kid slept, she had taken the stage outside of their reality!

~You..w-we..k-

**~Sins** are eternal, just as you apes to your cities and vast accomplishments. All greedy little insects, and without giving any credit to **ME** for setting you mutts straight!~ She used his talons of a bird- woman to claw at Aiden's armor; given to him by his Chosen alter- self's abilities. The fire bird was going to have a long time mending that..

_~Nnnggh!_ ~

~Does it hurt?~ She hissed maliciously in the blonde's ear. Her venomous lips as acid as her miasma body and bones, drifting aloft in the den of a serpent from the pits of the netherworld.

_~S….St-_

_**~Aaagh!~**_ Aiden's torso was lashed out at by her tail. A demon's forked one as if this psychic feast for a psycho wasn't enough!

~That boy's emotions are the same, you cannot tamper with what rightfully belongs to ME. We had a pact made eons ago you see, he is to remain with every last shred of his memories locked away to…steady my child's progress-

~Wh-

**~AAAhhh!~~** Aiden seethed as the venom tip hit his leg, fire to his veins that turned to a deadly chill in seconds. It was as if she'd bitten him a-

~No!~ He growled. _~Sick!~_

~ I _am_ a temptress! Show a little gall. Or, I can do that _for_ you…~

_~Y..You..you…what_ ar-!~

~ Just _watch…~_ She hissed before lowering her lips to grab a-

**~Agh~!** The harpy woman shouted as Aiden's one free leg kicked the witch who was only feet from a very private space that HE did not want to turn to stone. ~Back , off!~ Aiden's powers kicked in as the strix shrieked out ,the light from his fire a warning while the harpy had no choice..

~You cannot change man! Only I may do so as I please with your **wretched** little _lives_! If you take that boy to your world, he will be put to **death** by his own kind! You are leaving him to this…and **lying** to a former deity of the lunar eclipse…is letting a den of snakes have their fill of your entire _**universe**_! _**AHAHAA**_!~~

Aiden's head could not be filled with her babble. She was a snake charmer- a temptress? More like a born-again cultist!

~I won't let his lif be used up…Not until he's happy like his parents _wanted!_ ~ Aiden shouted to the kid, now knowing what Lilith had done. She was unhappy. If she knew the kid's parents, he was just to spite her enemies attached to their loss…which meant….

~He isn't or wasn't the target. You are just a rat yourself,and for trying to do anything that evil!-

~Oh, dear child.._!_ ~ She scoffed. Her talons retracted painfully. The wisps of life from the blonde a light snck compared to what the witch truly desired to dine on.

~Of **course!** I hate the gods for stealing my title away! One mistake and everyone blame a power- hungry queen. You know, royal relations…Not much of a historian?~

~I don't care about how badly you wanted revenge. I want answers..What do I do to free him, what is his real name!?~ Aiden sent his energy to hit Lil, though it was only to test her at a distance. The harpy chuckled. ~ Ah, that. ~ She smirked as her delicious prize had wandered down into very dangerous territory with a single glare her way.

~ His name..name, he is **no** god. ~ She shrugged and acted casually about the manner. Aiden gawked, a liar. She was hiding it. Lil had good reason to bite her tongue after all. Even the fake Lily was smarter than she looked. ~I cannot seem to recall…not without enough of, a man-

~Zip it. ~ Aiden snorted. How he wanted to spit from that memory of a certain snake crawling up his leg.

Ugh..

~Ask him then? ~ She suggested.

~You'll prevent him from saying it. ~

Lil frowned and crossed her slender arms by her chest, bested for the moment. ~ Sharp. ~ She said. ~ Then I'll give you a hint; He hates the sun, yet the moon is far worse. ~

~What?~

~You'll be late, and before the hours of Time's handle have swept him back up…~ She pointed over her transparent, shoulder. Those violet eyes were not lying at all, they hid nothing as Aiden gulped softly.

~Time is here and very upset with you for disturbing the natural order. Go ahead. ~ Lil smiled; her eyes twinkling as the witch began to slowly vanish from before the dazed and confused Chosen.

~ Save him, if you don't want to join him that is…~

~I'm going to, but we won't die here. ~ Aiden nodded as he said this with steady confidence in his tone.

~Then, see you at the other end of time, small soldier! ~ The witch giggled as her body no longer existed, perhaps in another time…another realm far away. Aiden prayed she would never come to haunt anyone again. Too bad. She was as real as sand in an hourglass here.

**~Ah!** The kid! ~ Aiden swam for the boy's arm as the overseer of this namelessly treacherous void had awoken. Though it was not as Lil had determined HER to be.

Blue lights as mysterious as fox- fire burned to light the way. Aiden looked up as the boy floated down, inside his nightmares. It wasn't really here…but she could have been the oceans combined. The skies without end…

~A..~ Aiden realized. Goddess, no. An Entity. Time- keeper, creator and destroyer. Aleiah…Time's own creation made impossibly real. He gulped with a dry swallow as Roku's boy- self floated down into the blonde's arms. The room a swirling light and dark blue combination with only the deity's light to keep it.

A lantern was glowing in the darkest of places. 'A was an ethereal being made from the dreams of her followers. Hope. She had to be on their side...He hoped.

~ You wish to go home. ~ She spoke through the ancient language. Aiden nodded then tried to reply;

~I want to save him, make him human …O-o-or just give, him a chance to be free..~

_~Child._ He craved freedom, which led to his quest for power. I gave to him a bride to change him. He destroyed her, took her life. I gave to him a reason to escape the dessert realm. He has only made his allies fear him. What can a boy born by the race of a Tamaranean royal and he, of a father who is human to the laws of the Earth, do for such a being as he? A child born without a reason, no longer to thrive? ~

~ To not give up. Aiden replied confidently. ~ I want to know him name, his real one. I can do this..It was why the Chosen is here now. I want to show him that…He has to have hope-

_~Why._ ~ A' seemed perplexed. Her tall headdress swayed to the side with her long azure waves blowing by an ethereal breeze. One that held the greatest chronicles of man's countless encounters with the other side. _~Why_ should you be the only one?~

~Huh…Then I can always convince them, it just might be the way things should be. I can't explain it... ~ Aiden nervously added. ~ I guess, someone did try…I'm sorry! ~ Instinctually he bowed his head to apologize. Ami was rubbing off on him…

~You were close. ~ A' shook her head and smiled down with her eyes unable to be seen underneath her veiled complexion. ~ They know you. They have always known him, so maybe your time can be with him. Love was there within his era…Yet, it died so soon. ~

~His, childhood? ~ Aiden wondered as A, of course nodded; ~His humanity was incomplete. I had to remind him, though he chose the life of a soul lost and afraid to face its deepest traumas much later. ~

~I promised him, A. Now, I'll promise you the same.~ Aiden stood up with the child still in his arms. Bridal style to relieve the biting wound on the blonde's other side. ~It'll be like having a brother of my own. I have three sisters who bug me already. He just wanted to be cared for. The moon, that's his mothering side or the female side, right? ~

~In lore, some would agree. ~ A replied truthfully.

~Then, the sun is the opposite. That evil …I won't say her name. I know what that feels-

~Come to your point again, time is short. ~ A' looked to the fox- fire as it had slowly started to fade. She too would be sent to her lands far in the Universal realm. A call had been issued; old foes were attempting to defy the council.

~The sun, the men he trusted. He felt alone because he thought he'd have to pick. But the pen is mightier than the sword someone once told me. My dad, so that wasn't the way things had to be. ~

~You know now. ~ A smiled as if Roku's old self could one day be a memory long forgotten. ~ Then I will tell you; his name. Was once not only Raku; Son of Lord Eclipse Daemon and Djinn Azag. Son of Talia, born a hereditary sorceress of the Sumerian city-state of long ago. He was called 'Sandu Amelserru Ina Etu Apsu.' Red child of dark beginnings...-

Aiden was glad to be nearing the end..This had to-

~Now, return to your plane at once! The forces of Time's plane have since spoken. You must return ...Begone, from this void.. Chosen.~

As soon as that deity had commanded him, the lights went out..A sea of stars soon followed, leading the teen hero to wherever the great spirits wished him to be.

~ This is it. We are-

/


	7. Chapter 7

Teen Titans: New Generations; The Chaos Round – Part One: Chapter 6: Trial of the Tricksters

/

A wide tunnel lined with torches led a ways down, down past the great catacombs, in through a set of doorways that should have left time to simply vanish. The greys of the hall returned as the tunnel ended, setting our heroes out and off to where the end of the world or the center of the universe must have belonged. Past the walls of such a gruesome opening were the faces if many multiple dignitaries from all walks of the cosmos as the Titans were led to enter inside a large hall sit lit by many torches. .. Figures of every conscious aspect of man; deity of the north, south, western and eastern planets of spirit. Also, there was a council of elders. It had always been that the Guardians both detested and respected their elders. These elders however were as old in appearance as standing tree trunks; hovering over a massive podium with posterity and able-minded skepticism over their uninvited party, who'd arrived straight from the Earthen plane of existence…

~Lady warrior, Astarte! ~ A male dignitary with a beard longer than St. Nick's and twice as untamed by his equally sizable whiskers grinned and rose up from his seat, before adding his presence to he aging collection of faire council-folk.

~How goes! -

~ Another time, Lord Thor. ~ The cold woman in military gear had appeared from before a brush of light and dusk, twilight was not to her element as the solar relic was her calling card. The lord of thunder had yet to call the dignitary out for a heinous crime.

Her attire now resembled that of her warrior self from long ago. Though she wore her long multiplying braids and kept her glamorous human- form's face; not bothering to wear her traditional headdress, Astarte was still a queen to a long-standing era. Being bald was to protect her from disastrous consequences then, in the past. Now into the present, she rather enjoyed training her mess of strands to act as a lasso against her enemies. Or a crushing whip to be used to her liking...Especially against a nosy fire fox Kaien.

As Astarte motioned back to her true allies with a nod, one elder on the right end of the podium pointed at a figure lurking behind the powerful goddess. He shuffled by with Aiden clutching the child self's arm.

~It…Has happened? ~ The elder rasped and smacked his aging, bone dry lips to ask, he'd bothered to take up another moment of the other party's time. ~ Please, come forth. ~ He beckoned to the figure, Raku to walk; ball and metaphysical chain in place, while a guard or two helped to shove the child with Aiden right beside him to meet before the surprised hall of elite deity.

~That…. That cannot be! ~ A deity with lush golden waves and a high-pitched tone; a crown atop her head called out, she bellowed in fact as a Valkyrie would have. Aiden winced as his armor had received a decent crack in it from the woman's shrill cry. The Titans in their order of older to youngest generations looked on, horrified yet confused by how the gods treated one of their own so…harshly? Raku had been a threat in his adult form. Was this the way he'd always been treated?

~What is the meaning of this?~ A deity with a beard as sharp as a long sword; with black eyes and hair as well as red hem encrusted robes pointed at the catastrophe taking place within the council's presence.

~Lord Marduk!~ A deity companion who was small enough to fit into your pocket poked the man's cheek bone accusingly. His status must have been as a student to this olden deity Marduk. His eyes were bright green while his attire matched the child's orbs well. His feet were decorated in flat sandals of the story-book attire to a lost golden era. A time according to any deity when relics of power had actually brought mindfulness to the humans of an earthen legacy. Now, they were uncultured oafs to the new generation of successful artists and rebel rousers. Sometimes as transparent as a measly card trick or a gimmick, the lone allies of the people no longer the same... The proud daemon of yester-year had a right to detest these outsiders since the people, still had much to reflect on he undoubtedly believed. In both past and present times aside, the god was outraged beyond his years. The child had a scar against his body. A tainted mark engraved into him by a loathsome serpent queen and far worse, by his once- self.

A dead relic of denial.

~You should not rile yourself up. The healer-mother tells that your heart is unwell-

~He is a disgrace on our proud history! ~ The angered lord Marduk bellowed, barking at his comrade to see his side of this debate as the honest truth. The youth grumbled as he bit back his comments. Marduk continued to rant ~His sin was too great! Red, as his eyes will remain his scathing sin at birth His lord married a whore, he did! Did he not? Damned he be to even **AZAG'S** good _name_!-

~Sire!~ The smaller accomplice tugged at the man's sleeve as the youth could not hope to drag his sir against the currents of an all-out war.

Young Raku lowered his face from view. The whole hall started to scream, shout, bellow, echoing out a word in each of their minds that made perfect sense. 'Monster.'

~We have nothing to fear, I assure-

~ Liar! Good to you, was _he_? ~ A deity topped in flamboyant robes of violet and silver sneered.

~Enough! Son of the Dionysius !~ A dragon - derived deity who looked to be fuming just as easily snorted from its throat. ~Your title shall be revoked if we have not already sent you into the streets! ~

~What are you after, dragon? We have suffered _enough_ thanks to your insolent behavior! ~

~Is he any harm to anyone as a mere child? Really, Lady Bede? ~

~He's a threat in **any** guise he's EVER _**taken**_ 'Princess' Frige ~

~Fighting amongst our kind? Why must you bring about this headache…~

The deity Bede sighed and threw her hands to her hips, while Queen Frige sat back and crossed her arms against her white gown. Both goddess's glares seemed a part of their makeup. As allies to the natural world, both were at each other's throats over a doomed child of the past. Marduk had taken to drinking his medicine just as he'd known would occur – yet to retaliate against a former god's offspring would only come once as an able opportunity. The protégé had his hands full, while the supposed child of the god of wine just darkly expressed his hatred, before shooting a passing glance at Lady Bede.

~This, is at best the worst solution…Why not have the trial, good council. Dear allies? ~

Aiden listened to the request by another elder deity from the far east. Raku stiffened as his ears perked up, his face almost expressionless. Save for boy's wide eyes, his mouth had a slack expression to it as if he wished for something to appeal to his case...As if hoping to again speak freely.

Or someone else could aid them; other than Astarte, then again…

Aiden looked behind him at the other Titans. The Guardian allies weren't allowed to participate…So much for a 'just' society. He sighed to that argument. The spirit world was pretty messy with politics! Just like the dark ages or way before.

~Children on trial for multiple war crimes? ~ Marduk's voice echoed out angrily again. ~Are we going to let him walk free, Lord Hwanung? Peace won't come by excusing THAT brat for his countless offenses any-

~THIS UNIVERSE'S LAW IS NOT SET IN STONE. ~ The deity of Laws; Lord Hwanung barked out with his long beard shuddering as a stormy mountain full of thuja. Though the hairs were not a bother as Lord Marduk's had seemed to trip the man or stab him countless times.

~**Test** my ability. ~ He tried to the higher council. "Try to further debate this, not to I – The Warrior goddess then of her realm since- displaced? You are not the first to understand such a lesson. Just, let the boy speak! ~

Lord Hwanung jabbed a long finger towards a spot in the room where Lady Astarte stood waiting for these elders to quit their griping. She was going to have to thin out a few grey hairs from her scalp later. At least the God of Laws of the Korean spirit – plane had been humble enough to allow her party this chance…She would not pass up another. Astarte pointed at the boy in chains who stood cowering before the council. She then curtly nodded to Hwanung before starting;

~An array of rumors, lies. ~ The goddess echoed with her speak quite strong . ~And yet, we of Sir Djinn Azag's dried-up council know of the whole truth. For we were too foolish, we refused to speak as we should have…For Azag's son to be spared... And lo!~ She pointed a hand at out as it stretched to meet the frightened accused eyes.

This was a shocker to the Titans who had believed Astarte to be against them! Gar would be in the book of world records for so many 'jaws dropped' in the course of a decade. Astarte took the liberty of smirking back toward the two youths, the Chosen frowned. As for Aiden, he was included…Strange, as he was quite baffled by Astarte's change of heart. Poor Raku looked about ready to break down and cry a river again.

~Then you may proceed, Lady warrior. ~ An elder to the center of the great podium raised his aging, gnarled palm to allow the trial a push ahead.

~Should any interjections be made beforehand, you will be excused by our guards towards the only exit of this council-hall. Now, time may again move in the truest position- that cannot change here, Astarte? State your claims well. ~ The eldest of elders advised the determined goddess.

~You are being tested by kin who too recall the dramas of our past. You may begin…for you have only your pride and honor to sacrifice here within the Eternal faction. ~ The deity all looked on; eyes as embers amid a dark sky, ready to place their own cards on the table at any given second.

Astarte nodded, unsure of nothing at all at this point. She had Isa's aid. She knew of Raku's misery, as her lost family…Her ally, and with it.. Azag's last wish would not be left in vain.

Behind the deity's few bodyguards, Anna grit her teeth. Had Astarte …Sara Santiago **lied** to her own cadet all this time? _Why_ was Anna so unimportant here when Aiden looked about ready to spill the beans? He wasn't a good advocate. His over-all stupidity had left Amy in danger, Ava too!

Raven had not seen Ann Grayson's aura, though Agatha had. Her eyes were glued to it as the lapping flames had started to turn to harbor an eerie blue tinge. Aggie looked to Kay who shook his head at the courts' debate instead. No one saw? Was she…The hag! Aggie looked to her other side for a sign that she wasn't losing her mind. No, she wasn't. The hag...Something was familiar about her presence…But _what?_

/

The council eventually shut its doors, and as soon as they had… the shouting had returned with full force. As Aggie watched the kicking embers burn throughout the middle Grayson child's aura, a figure behind our heroes had found itself right beside the heroes' backs. Stalking as it did only bear to leave a wisp of air from between its unnoticeable teeth.

A hooded soul; though the Eternal beings favored cowls as the Titans had been used to seeing the deity also donning cloaks of solid shades. Two more joined as their long legs would not allow them to lose track of their ringleader. The other; a darkly clad being stood behind Aggie and whispered as caressingly as stardust to the relic in training;

~Where is Concordia _now_? ~ Aggie's eyes grew wide as a small gasp left her fragile lips. ~Not…here...~he meekly replied to the hiding figure lurking only feet from her shaking frame.

The two other allies who'd been backing the trouble-maker giggled softly to one another, as this intensely spectral dance of minds continued to weave on throughout the young Raku's trial. The Titans had not noticed the young resurrected goddess's pains, yet Kaien; from a distance from the tired Isa were sensing a force from long before in their midst's all the known while.

Isa whispered to her ally Ayane to watch over the team. As Princess Lorelai's glance returned to nod back to the mother goddess, Isa dashed off in search quietly for a secret entrance. There had once been one; beside the large exit way doors, she recalled her time here beside Maat long ago with a hidden smirk.

Kaien had begrudgingly coughed aloud amid the team ally's silent planning. As soon as the council had returned to hurling insults at poor Raku from where they stood, Veravakumu hotly shot his uncle a look of disapproval before adding to the old man with a rough nudge ; ~You should go clear that smoker's lung, Kaien. We don't want anything to –

~I'm just getting over a little tickle is all. ~ Kalen dismissed his nephew with a wave. Acting as if the great reborn Apollo was an old foagie. _Huh_! What were those kids taught in his absence? Isa had a witness to collect. Unless they'd not make it in time… He prayed Apollo's prediction was a fluke. Something wasn't just within this hall of orderlies and deity from other planes since passed.

~Red or warmer shades like orange are to the west, east is lighter shades; pink, light yellows or greens, Blue is to the North as is white… and green, black, earthen cooler shades? Those reside to the southern plane-

"Why designate a color wheel based on countries and stuff, sounds sort a' fishy ta' me-

~Ami-chan. It keeps order here in our worlds. You humans no longer keep to the universal laws held in place by the earth's true elders. ~ Haru explained carefully to her charge. "But..." Ami bit her lip. "Then no connection to mama Gaia?" She gasped. "Dude!? THAT is just _soo _harsh." Gar disagreed with a rasp as he cleared his throat quickly to butt in. "What about hippies or hipster culture? Eco-friendly campaigns? Are you saying it's all a lie?!-

"Shut it, ya green troll!" Cy flicked the back of Gar's neck like it was the perfect time to be kids all over again. Raven needed a breather from having to keep her friend in line. It wasn't her job anymore anyway. "Not everything humans do is like how you guys do things here." Cy concluded. "Besides, I can see all y'all fighting way too much. Heaven or what you guys call the underworld…. Weren't you…Uhh, spirits.. created by humans or something like you'd said earlier, Ron?" He quickly turned to face the lightening prince for a clue, some reassuring words of wisdom perhaps?

~Likely Kayu told you; the truth about our existence Cyborg, it's not written in stone. ~ He dictated this clearly, explaining the relevance of their worlds this way as to end the discussion without haste. Bringing in more info to share with those of a 'human kind,' it was actually taboo - and even Kay and Vee had broken their pacts once before. Oh yes, explaining the former chosen's role to the Titans of Earth and not just a single session. Sayu had banned Vee from entering through the traverse which led to the Celestial realm after that spat. Now, the ban was slowly lifting…Except for Takahara's past with a few bad eggs. By now, Shoji was posted as a con- man and spy in a ton of known universes! Isa was his boss still, even after Kaien had flown off with his fiery temper after the Goddess.

~ We currently have numerous Immortals. ~ Ron slowly, cautiously looked to his left. No, he could speak as he needed to. ~ The Celestial royals, Eternal cultists, and Underworld allies calling the shots. No better than your realm if you were to paint a picture of their quarrels on a wide enough canvas, mate. In bold shades I might add. Bloody good karma that's do ya.. ~ Ron shook his head and pointed his thumb towards the scowling Celestial Prince Kayumon.

~Where is Sayu in this? Is she deciding to play her own role later on? Damn it! ~ Kay was biting his nails while his fox tails flicked every which way. He had six which was two more than Ron could bear to own.

Ron nervously excused Kay's actions with a weak laugh. ~Pardon the dog's temper. He's sometimes… Touchy when it comes down to our mum is all. ~

"And Hanumon isn't involved anymore either? What was Sayu doing involved in the older Prophecy?.." Raven paused while musing over the events in the back of her mind. "Did Sayu really..." Cy couldn't remember if the fox official had stayed close to her ex at all.

~Suitors aren't forever. ~ Aria brushed an aqua wave off of her sun kissed shoulder blade. ~I counted on Veravakumu to be mine, yet he still knows of my follies. Same with Sayu. ~ She sighed.

~ Love for thee Immortals of our kindred is 'superficial' at best. ~

~So Kayu's mad at his mom…That didn't answer the question though." Gar frowned.

Aria shrugged and left a curled smirk to run past her features. ~ We are beautiful manifestations of emotional dissatisfaction and of the longing all artists strive to create; perfection. Should our roles not be to wallow in a misery created only for we of the elite to understand? ~ Aria had spoken before, though never so articulately before as she'd done in front of her comrades. Gar was speechless, the siren was gabby! Ron patted his friendly Titan ally on the back. ~ She's made a point. Don't try to read into this too much. ~ Aria appreciatively smiled back as Ronald nodded to his relative, all the same glad she'd controlled her emotions this time.

~Are we for certain that doom shall not befall any which capital, again?~

~Mars! Lady Chalchiuhtlicue, sit down…I beg you, please-

**~NOT BEFORE! -**

~Turning away from a war to come of this, exhaustive display...~ Artemis; who stood at the right of the war deity's seat, interjected as she raised a finger high into the air. ~Why not find those of his victims closest to the dragon's heart and mind? The Chosen is blinded by a fool's release, of his intended crusade to continue. Then he too says; the dragon he believes should be rehabilitated. What are the cautions to a deity of the Eclipsed moon? ~ She glanced around the room. Hoping for a brave soul to send her back to the Universal quadrant. ~ Should any of ye interject? ~

~Moon? ~ Raven raised her eyes to further view the scene. ~But he was able to use fire…That-

~I can add to your debate, council folk? ~

A familiar, petite figure had Verra gasping back. ~Bao Shi? The wind and wood elemental!? How…?-

~No need to count me out, either. ~ Isa had returned to her spot beside Kaien.

~Ah, Lady Bao Shi. By all means, do speak up…~ Artemis waited as Bao Shi in her colorful garb took to the podium.

The team's log wait had ended by who was there to also aid in Raku's case beside the elemental maiden; it was their old, appointed ally Sorcerer Gregory. The last remaining inhabitant of the realm of Digitalis.

Raku's fragile mind was afraid to except these folks as his allies. To him, they were there to do just as the council…Yet..

~I…. I'm...S…-

~Not a word, child of Azag.~ Gregory instructed as the child did as he was told. His tears withheld for another day in time.

Artemis must have just appeared, yet Astarte sent her old companion a nod in thanks. The lunar huntress bowed and allowed Gregory and his comrade their turn to wow an audience of such promise.

~Where were they hiding? ~ Raven asked the other moon goddess through their mind-spoken bond.

~There is much to tell, dear ally. Amaterasu was our reason to combine at this time. The sun deity warned of discord from the below…I will speak of our findings, as soon as this trial is won. ~

Astarte turned to redirect her eyes onto the impatient orbs of an anxious Aiden Grayson. He was their last link in this war, it had to be won without bloodshed and quickly…for something was on its way. Something that Amaterasu the sun goddess had sent a Grecian lunar deity to bring word of; was this in warning or did the presence before the warrior queen here in these Eternal halls have another reason for having, been at all? She looked to the heroes as Aggie's frozen shock took the elder ancient goddess by storm.

~Get down! ~ A crash resounded as the walls shook violently against the elder's eardrums. Richard Grayson turned at the sound of a high-pitched scream. Aggie was there; her eyes unable to look away from the council's stares. A figure with a hood so dark it cast out the character's aura. That was why the earlier suspicions of Kaien had failed his aspect Apollo's foresight. The character's grin remained wicked as its arm looped round the defenseless younger deity's torso. A pale moon gleaming blade at her throat, the assassin wasn't here to kill, raven saw in its stance. It was waiting to bolt before the Eternal World's guard squad charged the doorway.

/

The goddess Hebe stood and pointed as a flashing light soon magically bound a now unconscious Agatha inside the hollows of its tendrils. She had fainted, or the monster had put her into a trance instead.

The great beast was not a bat, it soon released itself from its cloaked universe. It was a man with hair uncombed and unruly. Just as his gruesome grin, his winged back was that of a monster as his eyes. Starfire gulped amid her team's circle.

Those angry eyes held an uncanny way about them. Describing a tale of something far dastardlier. Whatever this beast was, its story was one of disdain and misery.

Beside the supposed assassin swept out from the dark two cloaked figures; twins at that, in which Lady Diana took to noticing the resemblance as uncanny. They were the very sign called Gemini. A star sign brought to life purely by magic. Though who had such a talent but a…!

~Block off the exits! -

~AMBUSH THOSE _CRIMINALLS!~_ Thor shouted out. His hammer was enlivened by the god's powers as it slapped harshly against the wind. The orderly Mars who was quite close had to steel himself for the clap that resounded as roaring thunder across the great hall.

~Intruders, come to free a captive?~ Thor turned his mighty hammer towards the expressionless Astarte. She could end up bludgeoned, left to crawl away. Thor however used his gavel to point, not to aim as she refused to cough up what was going on from her full lips. A queen was not below a god, yet SHE was a goddess elder, he would bow before HER.

~What's going on, Kayu?~ Aria shrieked at the appearance of the tow twins. While one was as two; dancing snakes in the form of gender-less entities, formed of order turned into utter chaos!

Neither male nor female, they had pointed and pressed features as prim as marionettes on strings. Their clothing was flamboyant and skin-tight. Ami almost had to hold back a chuckle by how the clowns were dressed. She'd remembered an anime with similar figures, and a moon princess from the future?

"AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS" Raven slammed her powerful spellcasting projectiles into the figure who had stolen Aggie away, clenching her sore palms with her Azarathian magic flush against the dark spook's back.

~Come back here with her!~ Ami shouted as Raven started to feel weak. She had been drained too early. Raven panted, feeling weaker now by the attempt. And when her magic should have left a mark behind. Instead, whomever it had been, the giggling imp was just that as its face revealed. Now, to the Titans a face which should have been annihilated by Manifesto's curse. Raven's eyes widened as Ami gaped back, thinking

"_Aiden_!" Dick shouted to his son, while Annie rushed in to find her brother with his arms still clutching Raku's shoulders shakily. "Why aren't you running? The trial's-

~Actually! ~

The Gemini twin from behind Anna laughed and did a flip over the kid, pressing onto Ann's shoulder as she collapsed without any added remarks. ~That should take the pressure off ya!~ The high pony tail the twin carried was red with silver streaks. The twin Gemini had such a lithe body that looking to the character's side made it seem invisible almost...

~Quit playing around, sibling! ~ The second, tougher looking sibling was definitely facing Nightwing from afar; his spiky hair do wasn't as slick in appearance. His clothing held more shades of black and purple instead of the vivacious greens and white his younger twin represented.

~Hmm, but they are on our hit list! ~ The younger coyly added, its palm holding its cheek as if doubting an early disappearing act to be the wisest move.

~Just, bag the dragon and go! ~

"I'm not standing aside, Anna …." Aiden _burned_ inside. His hair turned golden as the aura from his body added to the new promise. "Raku…Is going to be finally set free from his curse!~

The younger attacker looked up in amusement. Its eyes twinkled with a feverish intensity. Itching for a way to shed some of this pent-up energy…Was he a dragon too? The boy looked to be glowing as bright as the sun.

~You'll join him then, if you lose that is. ~ The younger leapt into action. Aiden dove left and carried a startled Raku from the fight. He had to find Astarte, where-

_~Ooh_, no you don't! ~ The giggling freak swept the teen out from under his feet. A shadow - figure and fighter as it twirled around in delight, sending knives the Chosen's way as soon as the poor Chosen had reclaimed his footing. "Shit!" Aiden threw up another block, and another as the cackling would cause his brain to soon melt into liquid magma. The boy volcano on the run!

Aiden ducked and awakened his blade, causing it to reform from memory into a wide shield with a solar Crest pattern along its armored back. The assassin clown's blades were deflected, though the twin had the two, Raku and Aiden pinned beneath the metallic item's weight.

~I'll be taking the whole thing now, you **and** that rejected prince!~

The loud madman's cackle was enough to send Aiden spinning as the weight increased, crushing his arms even with the Phoenix's gifted gear to aid the teen.

~**Manifest** _something_! ~ Aiden looked to his side. He blinked. Raku…He'd just talked?

"What!" Aiden at the time now was in a bind. Young Raku noticed, as he gripped the teen's hand with his own chillier ones. ~I'll lend you enough energy to save us…. Form a contract with me and it shall be done! PLE-

"No!" Aiden shouted while the solar shield had started to crack apart slowly. Panic filled the other younger boy's mind. ~You'll lose at this rate! -

"I'm…keeping my word…I'm going…to protect…. you!" Aiden let the magic of the fire bird's craft turn his arms into spears made of fire. His breath became acidic as he shot out a bolt for the second time, by his mother's own rites. He was part Tamaranean. Yeah, the witchcraft could wait until they really had to beg for mercy.

The younger twin of the stars writhed backwards in pain. With a scalded scream, it was sent flying into the ground. The boots; or feet of a rather peeved Marduk, almost had the twin pinned to the council room's slick stonework. As with any deity of order, the last strike would have come with a heavy boot to the skull. The twin teleported in time, gasping and left to stand beside its older copy. Its frightened glare was enough to send the older twin on a rampage against those who had tried to fight its partner. ~Can we find her yet? I don't want to play with these children anymore! ~ The younger whined to its brother, its wrist badly burned and ankle looking a bit limp..

~Our savior won't be pleased if we return without her targets. ~ The elder exclaimed. ~ Let me face the fire-boy for us, sibling... ~ The younger twin huffed and swapped dance partners with his ally. ~The old men are all yours. ~ The youngest giggled as if this were a prank on its part. Won only through acts of vengeful destruction…

The younger twin's eyes lit up as it dashed to face off against the rest of the Titans. How could this end quickly? A tag team was necessary to reclaim their savior's prize.

Kayu had met with Verra in a tag team reunion. He saw Kori facing off against one slippery serpentine jester. Verra growled and let out a mighty howl with his all-encompassing, echoing power. Both daemon and deity had to cover their ears as the dog's abrasively wounding pitch reached enormous heights.

~Warn us before you go all Lycan! ~ Ron snorted in annoyance as he levitated up to help Cyborg in rescuing the helpless Aggie. Verra shook his head like a dog, snuffing as if he could catch a cold by that comment. ~Had to be done! Sorry! ~

~It bought us some time, look! ~ Raven spoke through her powers to connect with her other teammates. The cloaked, suspicious looking figure had been stunned, as Verra had predicted the outcome would act in the team's favor. What a guy. The figure however refused to fall back, as its miasma tendrils didn't cloak the creature's bat - winged back very well.

"Drop her, ugly!" Cy threw out a comment that had the creature turning its eyes towards him now. The tendrils stayed afloat, protected by an erected force field that Gar, Wiz Gregory, Ayane and Henry Vanderbilt could not break past.

"What's going on?" Gar avoided a hit from the bat's swatting and lizard-esque tail. A hybrid monster.

~Binding water, waves! AT MY COMMAND!~ Another figure stood in the heat of this battle. Its shoulders graced by the moon and sun as the character had the frame of a nymph from the oceans' tide.

The queen and siren maiden Aria added pressure to the force field as the bat creature closed in on the team with a mightier screech than Verra's howl. Cy blasted at it with his canon while Nina jumped into the mess with a second blaster. Her arm was…One more so masterfully executed by design than Cyborg's own tech.

"You've been packing that much firepower? "He asked the grown android with a stunned expression. She tossed him a glance before setting the room straight into the nearest future. Light surrounded the team. Her shockwave arm cannons were a superior mass of engineered genius. Maya had made sure of it when she'd left old Shoji the blueprints for N.I.N.A before the reincarnate's last goodbye.

"That's not all I'm rockin'. Check out the big guns on _this_!" She left the canon to her lips once the light had died completely, blowing on it as a torch to the open air. "Not so little, huh mi hermano?"

"Nuh-uh." Cy couldn't nearly have believed it but, Nina was a tyrant with that tech. A pro, a real…She was Sara Santiago's current right-hand soldier.

Yeah. She was just as brazen as that leopard-eyed queen.

"And now." Nina dusted off her cargo pants before heading towards an unconscious Anna. She left the stunned Cyborg to pick up the pieces of who he had believed was now Lil' Nina. She'd been gone a long time.

"Time's up, bang _bang_." Cy flinched a little while Nina laughed at the male's disappointment. Ann snorted while the Android ignored the kid's sass as soon as they'd reunited. "We can talk when this mess is put away, hon. Show up this time, that's an order from Santiago herself." The android's smile had faded into a fine line across her gorgeous and dangerous face. She was still part machine if not all, then a part of herself could detach just like a good little soldier. Cy felt his heart ache for that same reason; Shoji had lied about Nina's real role as a project under his company's research. Maya had passed on as Priscilla Dearheart, only to expect the kid…. To grow up so cold…

Cy could have sworn that flirting was a big no - no, though if…Karen was back home, right now it wasn't time to regret. Bumblebee would understand if some old friend had just teased the male, sure. Harmless, just funny. Right? But Nina was…Flawlessly observant. She was a killing machine as Cy felt his heart thump out of sync. That face of the kid from way back still left him with some hope that she could still feel underneath all of that tech.

Cy didn't realize it but his heartrate had gone up. When had Nina been…She was just a kid not too long ago! So what?! She was a trained fighter on the battlefield...

Bought and sold for too long to remember, but she did say hermano. That was brother in Spanish, right?

~You've got to explain this _shit_ to the Titans, Sara..~ He growled and got up onto his feet. Time to rush in with guns blazing, alright.

Only feet away, the worst had not yet taken form. Raven shot out another blow into the crazed bat demon as she realized the face from a pictur in the back of her mind. Imp...it was him ...She was taken off guard by the younger healed Gemini twin, and was flung sideways by its flexible limbs.

"Rae!" Gar jumped right into the form of a tiger, eyes flashing angrily as he stampeded towards the empath's attacker.

Dick turned to search for the other, newer additional leader. Robin was pushing against the second twin gemini who was revved up to bleed out its quarry.

Richard Grayson dove over to aid the other Robin as the teen snorted smugly back to his big half- brother. "I had it under control, but thanks anyway-

"We are losing this fight, at this rate Agatha is going to be captured for good. We can't keep toning down -

"We are heroes, but THEY don't know what we can do!" Zatanna flung her magic ito the older twin with a grin to her allies.

That was it then. The teen and his ally both knew what had to be done.

Richard nodded to Damian Wayne as the two cleared their lungs to shout aloud;

"Ttians! Together!" The battle to save the Eternal council was on, and to prove that the Titans of Earth, were no longer enemies of the spirit world.

"We aren't going down without a last hurrah!" Ami sent her energy Aiden's way as he used what he could of it to storm past the barrier keeping Agatha from the teams.

"NOW! Together! The bat creature let out a mighty cry as the Gemini twins shielded themselves with their arms, crying out as the solar blessed Chosen's rays could not be withstood much longer.

~You'll lose yet!~ The bat hissed as a swirling portal opened up, behind him. Aggie was right there as the bat and his team took her back with their wicked craft. Thetendrils battled back as vines, turning into thorn coated obstacles while -

~I call upon the unknown forces of the cosmos! Erradicate the darkness!~

The heroes stopped as Raku's arm was outstetched; clutching the teen Chosen as if controlling his light from within. Raven saw the power of Aiden's fire grow as it nearly burned through to the other side of the thorny brush of tendrils and vining distractions.

nna cried out as she growled at teh tiny invader on her brother's case. He...was so dead meat!

~Aide!..Let him go, you !~

"_**ALLBESILENCED!~**_

The doors shot open as a figure had returned. A figure beside an even darker aspect of human kind. The entire room was stll just as the portal to another time had shut its walls. Raven bit her lip by what had dared enter through from the other side of time and space.

~He's..."

Aiden held his skull and was supported by his mother as she flew over to catch her child. Raku was pushed aside as he let fee the hero from his minor influence. Raven turned towards the doorway and frowned.

~Lady Hecate...Lady Aluehainyu...

~Secure the convicted for now.~ She commanded. Annubis appeared and sent shackles to grab at the youth's throat, arms and legs ; pinning him to the floor while Aiden was unable to do anything in his weakened state.

~The trial has not ben won, it cannot be. I allow this chance for the chosen to have his way for the Heroes of the Earthen Realm are here in our great time of need.~

Raven looked to Hecate's side, noticing that something was missing. Then, it hit her. ~ Where is Cecila?~ Vee instead asked the same question. His instincts just as attuned to the dark witch's ways as Raven's own.

~Brothers and sisters of the council of the elemental, the unbeknownst of all time and eras since lost; the princess of the Solaris faction...Has aided another. She has turned on her own kind. ~ Aluehainyu spoke with a voice as a crackle of lightening to the skies.

~The Crescendo , is this untrue! Nay!~ Artemis shouted back in protest. ~ The widow was to never touch her spirit's purity again!~ The goddess noted. ~ Queen of the Under- realm; why are you truly among us from your crypt?~

Hecate halted the pupil of Lord Destiny's was a palm. ~She has been stolen away, her mind is to believe that Alicia Daia still walks. That her spirit must return. Long has this been so.~ She continued as Verra's ears drooped. ~No...Cici..You didn't-

"Did not what?" Raven made the pup recoil as Kay tried to mind speak to the empath to wait her turn.

~The return of that reincarnate!~ As the crowds steadily become curiuser and curiouser, Aiden had no sooner batted his eyes to awaken to such a sight.

Hecate pointed, dipping past the Chosen as he then followed the relic's finger...

~The child reborn is within this mortal girl! The goddess Concordia is in fact Agatha of Delphi!~

Alue too was shocked as she turned to the goddess, only to recieve an empty stare.

Aiden had always guessed that his once crush ...no..no! She wasn't supposed to get involved anymore!

Lisa Viscado was stunned where she stood, trying to contact Alice right now would be..Ron brought a hand to the girl's shoulder. Guardian or not, he still did not approve of the deity taking such charge without proper law and order.

~Just as the chosen to the golden dawn, the light of Concordia is known to awaken the spirit of the solar prestess. We have now this; a war against the lunar and solar is about to begin. We must be prepared to repell the darkness.~

~Who then _**were**_ those creeps!~ Ami shouted through the speak, amazing and horrifying both of the girl's parents.

~Young incarnated of the goddess Amaterasu, the Gemini were ressurected by a being...known as the opposing force to Concordia's light. She is, Eris. Goddess of Chaos and a gorgon by her crimes once commited within my plane of the ancient gods.~

"Chaos.." Richard gulped. " What did they want then with Raku-

~You dare to speak of its title so lightly, human!?~ Marduk growled from within his stance. ~Lady! The humans protect this beast-

~By A's orders we are to not harm him, for he may just be the only way in which to tear that goddess from her pedestal.~ Isa then felt it right and nterjected. In that split second, Hecate turned to the Egyptian mother; feeling upstaged by the anti- heroine in all her days as a psychpomp of the Grecian Underworld.

~A herself told you this?~ Alue demanded to know as the crowd again grew still enough to listen.

~She did. Lady Bao Shi has told to me; that the Etheral relic wishes that only _one_ change be made-

~So many laws, broken!~Lord Hwuanung shook his head. The trial was now a debate. How unethical of his brothers and sisters to be..

~The change then is?~ Lady Artemis pressed the other goddess to speak up.

~The change will be to supress the dragon's magic, and to allow him to reside beside that humans on the Earthen plane. He will be under the constant eye of our current Chosen and his appropriate allies. That.~ Isa breathed. ~Was our Lady of Time's, final request.~


	8. Chapter 8

Teen Titans; New Generations – Chaos Round Arc; Part One: Chapter 7: Court is now in Session; A New Start at Life Begins…?! Welcome Home.

/

Isa paced outside the judge's hall. A room set away from where the bickering council and jury had since departed, the teen Aiden Grayson and his band of outsider allies stood face to face with Bao Shi Lan and Sir Agni of the Council of Immortals.

Aria bit her nails nervously and clung to Kay's shoulder with an iron grip. He didn't have the nerve to buck her off. The sea daemon wasn't right of mind which could leave his goose cooked, should he oppose her here.

Astarte stood beside Raku and a rather distressed figure, who eyed Isa from across the room curiously. Isa noticed the character as her dear nephew Anubis. He turned his head away to await the final verdict, leaving the distrusting Goddess Isis out in the cold with an undignified huff*.

Cyborg, Raven, Gar Logan, Henry and Glen, the Grayson's daughters, and Kori with her husband all stood out in the hallway as the debate had broken them apart. Dick awaited closure as the whether Raku's case could be settled amicably or not.

Kori didn't even breathe as her son; who was dealing his own set of cards, hands down as Verra had put it so nicely, was in a pickle with the deity behind those doors. Whomever the judges had picked to pull the chosen down further from his pedestal, they'd done so with the utmost care and precision. The deity down in Hecate's realm were highly secretive. They loathed the Celestial branch by far; only since both party's officials Kayu and Veravakumu had broken the law more than one millennium.

Those were days long since tolerated in the deity's history books- but now!

Aiden tried not to blink as Sir Agni stood before the teen as a judge to the under realms for some strange reason. He must have volunteered or been handpicked by his council men.

~The child of a morally corrupted plane is to be? ~ He read from a scroll paper script that Anubis had graciously handed his foreign ally. ~Aha, thank you …~ The fire god nodded appreciatively before reading a second time over the lengthy request from A' herself.

~Astarte. This case isn't settled with simply a re- introduction, you realize that with his powers nullified? ~ The god raised his head up to look directly into the war maiden's own determined two. ~ I in fact have all of my faith and power to leave to this Chosen, I am not wrong when we say this. The chosen as before was able to correct a wrong in which we had failed to-

~Right, then what of the terms? Isa? You claim that A' was responsible for allowing the child of Azag to thrive. She even killed him off twice before. ~ Aiden saw Raku's eyes waiver by the reminder of his past sins. Isa cleared her thoughts and replied; "The child is no longer tied down by the witch who made our story. It no longer binds him to his old contract. She is dead, we have not sensed a trace of the succubus mother since her earlier fall."

"Are you sure?" Aiden jumped in, knowing the risk of his doing so. "I was in that void where I got Raku free. She was taunting me…I don't think we've seen the last of-

~Inside the void? Impossible! ~ Anubis snorted.

"Is it, nephew?" Isa asked her family member swiftly. "Need we not remind ourselves of Cecilia Daia and her loss of control. The void is a place of contemplative reflection as well as a journey- home for those under its lunar influence-

~And if the boy is correct, then who would believe that he even spoke to that wraith in the first place?~ Anubis barked back.

"I can explain it! You don't want to make the same mistake, please!" Aiden turned to the deity of fire from right out of a folkloric storybook.

~ State why we should allow **his** passage back unto the human world. ~ Agni ignored Anubis's protests as the Jackal deity's jaw went slack. He looked about ready to send his staff flying into the other god's desk. Furious tantrums had clouded the son of the Netherworld's Egyptian kings' dynasties' mind. He did not want to forget his mother's face. Wherever she still was buried in the ancient past…

"Raku was unknowingly wronged. Isa and I can both prove it-

~How can you be so collected, human?~ Anubis spat, turning to glare at Isis as he spoke out of turn.

"I'm not lying. Isa? Isa, you know how much he's been through. It's bad enough that we have to go back and apologize to every race in the spirit world to right what's been-

~Any dead races so far? I think **so**! ~

"_ENOUGH _of your cowardice, _nephew_! ~

~**Enough**, out of all _**THREE**_ of you! ~ Agni's hair rose up as a spitting pyre into the air. The room went still as he sighed and combed it back with a sweating set of fingers.

~Better. I can hear myself again…Oh my…~

Aiden watched as Raku had lowered his head, miserable over what he'd once been capable of…Isa was trying to save him. Aiden was promising the kid a new life. A life; not besides the one he'd asked to have ( or was being forced to have..)

A new life, set. In human skin.

~Raku is here, _not_ powerless. ~ Agni spoke. ~Raku? Child, you are being allowed a chance to right your many wrongs- not all of these will be forgiven. However, the council wishes to test you here. We wish to see if you can in fact embrace the same humanity which shunned you, the same realms of spirit in which you laid waste to for many eons apart. ~

"He's going to stay with us. I promised him that I'd protect-

"Raku…Won't be joining you yet on earth, is that correct?" Isa interrupted the blonde eighteen year old as Sir Anubis awaited the moment when he could put the goddess down a fourth time . Oh..How he'd hoped that day would arrive no sooner than today.

~ No. He still must go through an evaluation set up by the council. It will determine if his ability as a Storyteller by his ancestor's craft will be of any concern to his new care givers. ~

"A, storyteller?" Asked the supposed chosen. Aiden then took his eyes away from monitoring Raku's depressing stare onto the floor. Isa met the blonde's eye as she replied;

"A sorcerer by his bloodline who has the power to conjure from simply sight alone." Isis bit her lip. She knew of those alchemists from ages ago. They were never spoken of highly by her people. They were taboo to speak of so freely about.

Isa however, was puzzled by this. If Raku had such power, then of course discrimination was imminent. Yet why not the alchemists of scriptures in question? Did they even exist if Raku… "Yet, his mother was a simple hereditary witch-

~Not according to our understandings. The magic tome called Manifesto was a creation meant to contain the dragon as his body had fallen to decay, is what the gods had believed. Though this may in fact be false. ~ Aiden looked to Anubis as he cleared his throat; trying desperately to ignore the staring teenaged human being before the Jackal..

~Yes..Hem*..The boy we believe carries Azag's creation or Manifestation art. He was a summoner; one of great promise in his days at the Northern Isles Academy for the Gifted-

~That explains not why he wanted…Uh, the dragon desired the chosen's body and mind to be at his beck and call. ~ Anubis nodded to himself even while in deep contemplation.

~A vessel is a symbol of a whole. It is a percentage of what was lost to the dragon. His body was never fully recovered thanks to Lorelai Ainsley's long-standing curse. It may have been his fascination with the myth, the one he so tried to forget and yet failed to do so. ~

"So, when did he lose it? I mean, he was looking for a way back but not being a dragon anymore-

~He was able to steal what magic he could from my people. ~ Bao Shi finally spoke from across the room. Her sleeves nearly touched her sides, long and flowing as a holy spirit to the far east.

~You have been rather quiet, old ally-

~ Xiaoxin ni di wo shuohua. Hush, old king of his pyre – site. I am no older than you, or so I seem to remember. ~ Bao Shi snipped back. Then, adding her piece.

~ If he stays here and goes through the study, you must honor A's demands. I was by her side. The child of hope will soon replace her mother. Tsani is still unable to grasp what is expected of her. We know when not this will be...A problem no more. She has been able to strengthen the walls of universal space time. However. ~

"The evaluation will not only determine whether or not the child is a liability..He will also be changed by it! This distracts from the truth, seer of the eastern sect! ~

"No!" Aiden interrupted the yipping dog deity. "He's fine, why would they-

~We are only to discover the core point in which turned him in the first place. Isa? You have that answer I assume. ~ Agni leaned forwards in his seat as the goddess was unable to comprehend the question quickly enough. Bao Shi's lingering remark had the deity dread the worst, should she forget what needed to be said.

"I believe he was confused, lonely and also…." She licked her lips to continue;

"Lord Abi was to blame for what the child went through once Azag had passed. As were my own kindred...That book may indeed hold a clue. One that only Prince Raku may be able to recall from long ago." She swallowed hard the truth. For it was the final truth that even Lord Destiny himself had failed to come to terms with. Raku too had suffered by the former lord's earliest transgressions.

~ Now Abi or Lord Destiny too has left the planes of existence. ~ Anubis sighed, choosing to show pity. His face was wearing the headed mask if a dog of the Netherworld. None could see his remorse here. ~ The chosen is inexperienced, I would forbid it-

~ One step at a time, dog deity. ~ Agni tutted the impatient canine.

Aiden searched Isis's eyes for a reason. Just any as to why he wasn't being backed -that comment could win the fire god over! Isa..why was she stuttering, and _now_?

"I believe that he's yet to recognize redemption as it comes in many forms. My dear brother Set refused. My son in his passing always believed in hope; that I too should pray as hard as I could for the next keeper of the Golden Dawn's light." She answered the group with a furrowed brow. Her eyes could see his face, though not in those two boys before her.

"Then…. Raku." Aiden turned to his new companion with his heart set on any way possible to just end this...

"You can come to live with us if you do what these nice people need-

"I'm not going-

"I want you to be able to prove to them." Aiden stopped the startled child briefly. "That you CAN do the right thing. Not because they've told you to. But because YOU want to change. Remember…I won't leave you. Not if you need me right now. But, be strong..." Aiden swallowed. A lump was in his throat and he could not seem to let the feeling pass. He was afraid. He was scared, more than Raku looked to be from his expression.

The kid's amber orbs gazed back, longing to express far more. He was trying to do the right thing, right? Then why was it so hard to finish? The old Raku had been miserable and misguided. Was Aiden trying to say to him that he'd have to. Try again…To regain his old allies' broken trust? Had this group of gods not disowned him? Raku was confused; stricken by what might befall him if his powers still were to be deemed, a problem.. He looked up to Isa, Astarte, then to Agni; whose gaze was far more aware of what new trials awaited the boy.

Ah..how..long?" Raku meekly asked his judge and jury. Agni shook his head as if unsure of the exact year in which the boy should be granted release from his crimes.

~ The humans call it, a rehabilitation. ~ Aiden gulped as he nodded back to Raku; letting the boy continue to drink in this important information well. ~We prefer to think of this place as, a way to cope with the changes devised by time's role. Your role is far different than before. ~ Agni explained and turned slightly towards Aiden. The teen had to understand that the boy was once a demi- god of sorts. Raku was not ready to remain inside a human home, at least this is what Agni was tasked with by his higher than usual expectations. If ever young Raku's powers ran amuck despite the powerful cap the deity had thrown onto the child, there would only be an imbalance to quell within the realms universal order.

/

The heroes outside waited, and waited still. Gar finally gave in and tossed himself onto the floor; morphing into a very tired, lazy tortoise to catch some much needed 'zzs .'

Cyborg however, tried to seek out Nina just as she'd been fiddling with one of her system's controls. She had a tool kit in her belt compartment at all times that could shrink to the size of a compact mirror. Cy wondered if Nina had ever dressed her age; seeing as the dirty looking grey- green tank top and camouflage green army style pants, her hair cut at a pixie style and pink as he recalled. Her skin tone; as Maya's own blood of the now deceased Central American scientist's was darker than just a picture-perfect, sun- kissed tan. Only by the Naval officer's days spent running after her commander's next targets. The android had been in league with those miserable SWAT officials on her down time. Learning some pretty positive techniques which had also left Victor Stone of the Former Titans, speechless. Guessing by the muscles she'd honed well, this youngster wasn't without an ego. She'd taken up a few ugly habits thanks to Astarte's influence once again. Without a word, he walked up to the model; gathering as much foresight as any who'd just seen their family…. Change like that, and overnight.

"Um…. So." He began; leaning off to the side as the nervous bot attempted a decent bit of, polite conversation.

"I've got to get into contact with Sara Santiago, but she'd not like it if we interrupted their little chat…" The build soldier turned to Cyborg with a sniff. "I'm not going to crash her party in there but it's pretty tempting. You know?"

"Yep...It's a real cliff hanger for Starfire over there too." Cy's look softened as he chuckled back nervously, of course. Nina was no killer in his eyes. She was just tagging along after her foster parent…

"Um, her **kid** is a hero here!" Ami had been nosing in on the two; her big blue eyes a shocker as Nina shrugged off the younger Grayson's curious gaze.

"Your brother cannot make any more mistakes though." Nina reminded the pre-teen. Ami just grinned up to her Uncle Victor and raised a couple of suspicious looks over towards the god Agni's front door. "Yeah, but he's going to be HIS big brother if we don't let Raku take over the world first. You guys are being way too judgmental I think-

"Ami!" Anna rushed into her younger sibling and snatched the ebony haired tween from out of nowhere. "_Aggh_! ANNIE! **NO**! -

"Sorry…Apologize right now, you should have told me where you were headed! Mom's _freaking_ out-

"Was only a few feet from her you know..." Ami pouted, while she almost enjoyed being a real spoil sport. Ava was right beside Kori and the rest of their disgruntled family; Ami had only added extra pressure to poor Kori's frightened mind so far.

"If Aiden loses this opportunity, Raku could end up going exactly where he might as well go-

"Ann? Why are you actin' like that? What's up with BOTH your attitudes anyway?" Cy was concerned for Anna Grayson though. She'd been on a whole 'different level' ever since the group had been escorted out of the Eternal-worlder's courtroom. Ami had been talking as if her body were possessed by Min-

"Anyone seen Aria? Did she run off on us with the foxes?" He asked the fuming red-headed Grayson. Anna huffed; "Still worrying about them? For what? If we'd been anything but human, those dumb dogs would have left us lying flat. They can handle themselves. Right now, Mom and Dad want to keep us from running into unknown territory." She muttered the last part.

"So what? You kids are still under your mama's roof so you had better act like it. And I don't care if this lil' Nina wants to know all of my secrets. Is it her concern? No Comprende?" Nina snorted back as a bull in need of an attitude adjustment. "You; you are still under Sara's watch and mine. I've got to make sure she understands what's going on here because it sure isn't Astarte who's been watching you back-

"Hey! That is going way to-

"Anna? You are on thin ice and I don't care what kind of privileges you get from your parents. When we are back on the ship, you had better be willing to change you attitude." Nina paused, seeing that Ann's eyes had darkened by her harsher words.

"I don't want Sara to promise you anything that'll put either of you kids in harm's way. I should know. I grew up worshiping that woman ...aye.."

"She's not my problem." Anna replied coldly. "It's this whole damn agreement! We never signed up to become soldiers…For the social elite from another dimension! –

"Who says?" Cy threw himself between the two; not understanding at all what Anna was trying to admit.

"Santiago is counting on the Titans too. It's not just us." Nina closed up her compact and set it back inside of her belt pouch with a forced click*.

"WE are ALL in this, little soldier." She towered over poor Anna as her warnings rain down upon the red head's fiery skull. Teenager at heart much?

"You wanted to be useful to everyone including yourself, remember? You came to us. Backing out now is treason. Insubordination. I don't want you to get hurt. And truthfully, neither does Santiago."

Anna's eyes couldn't be bothered by tears today. She shot one look at Nina, then started to redirect her thoughts on an earlier task. Hell. Her position was worth less when it came down to the cold hard truth. Anna brushed off Nina stern gaze before the officer had cut her pupil loose.

"Come on, Ami. We don't need to stay here." Anna defected; at least under orders from her boss. She swore she'd get Santiago's full attention.

"Walk away now, but remember what I said-

"I won't be able to forget anyway." Anna sniffed back arrogantly. Ami quickly had also returned to her sister's side; baffled by this darker appearance on her sibling's face.

Her heart was pounding and the mini- miko could hear every thump, thump, as she clutched Ann's hand tightly in her own.

"It'll be ok..." She smiled back to the two soldiers. After the two's staring contest had ended, Anna proceeded in tugging her pre-teen sibling down another corridor to meet up with both Richard and Kori by the judge's front door.

Once things had gone quiet from within the hall, Cy allowed himself some release. Two long-winded sighs resounded, making Nina let out a chuckle by the other's timing. Still though, Nina had an off expression on her face.

"Dang…She's! -

"Very _much_ a handful as you remember?" Nina finished off before clearing her throat.

"OH, I was _goanna_ say she's gotten to be way too fresh for anyone to talk to, but yeah….I guess we could go with that!"

Another moment in time dared to whiz by as the Titans soon collectively had 'dozed off by the doorway. A good quarter of them; save for Glen, Henry, Richard, Raven and Kaede with Haru had stayed wide awake enough to catch a glimpse at a clock against one wall opposite their own current.. These figures stood strong against that nagging urge to loosen up. Their guards however, had to remain taller than that of their allies'. Gar was in wombat form all cozied up next to Ami. Anna was wishing for sleep though finding that her material comforts were needed at this time more than ever to achieve her new goal. Nina and Cyborg were just trying to keep their eyes open. Nina felt that her programming would require a tune – up after the day she'd had.

The foxes; the very dogs Anna somehow despised for shoving their problems onto the girl's family, were nowhere to be seen. Despite the grim appearance of this lack of luck the Titans had run across for themselves, Kori was still praying for a miracle – X'aal willing she'd added.

Henry turned to Glen with his frown apparent as Anna's scowl even as she slept. Glen sighed quietly and watched time tick again by; his eyes not as easy to manipulate by the sandman's abilities as his companion's own wizarding two.

A _creeak_* sounded from the door-

"Finally!" Gar was forced to jump out of his cozy spot as Ami's eyes blinked awake fully to groan; "Did you guys kiss and make up yet!"

Haru bit her lip and turned red as a camellia from within a summer-touched, magical garden. Kaede worriedly frowned at the child. Ami was to inherit a portion of Lady Amaterasu's magic. Was this the right way to act in her position? Why was her parent so careless in correcting the girl's behavior?

Ava turned to Chris in his wolf form; he'd gladly given up his human body to allow his princess a pillow for her dainty head. And, Ava had rejected the offer- to be so modest, indeed!

He still knew she'd be willing to break up…Should the tides turn in another direction.

~ All rise now, thank you…Astarte. This is debacle has been settled for today. ~ The clear-headed Agni had finally made his choices clear. Astarte nodded before leading both Aiden and Raku through the exit. Anubis growled in a low tone to Isis as she turned her eyes from his two darker ones.

~The will of the gods being, dear relative. ~ He said to Isa as she passed the Jackal god by. ~Mother would have listened to the gods. You…Side only with the humans…Be well on your journey. Should this be all. Farewell. ~

Inside Aiden's aura, the young Horus in his intangible body and the grown adult both shook their skull. Anubis had lost his mother. While Isa, had lost a child…Her husband was forever dead no matter what the gods spoke of. Lord Ra's orders had been absolute then as they were now.

Raku was not going to be coddled as before. He'd not by the gods who had forsaken him. Isa's sympathies were still as great as they'd been when Lord Azag had still held his position.

Her eyes fell onto Aiden's back as the blonde tried to keep Raku's mood in check. The sun over an eclipsed moon…Raku still could be saved, perhaps by someone who was…Like a big brother?..

Out the troupe came. Richard and Damian rose immediately from their seats. Kori blinked and was tempted to rush after her son's first foot falls. Astarte however, made the Tamaranean mother wary. Dick also had a hunch that Astarte wasn't going to hold her own end up. At least, not without results. If Aiden could bring a change from, within the boy prince Raku; if he had such a power to change someone from doubting everything, they'd once believed-

"We are letting the boy stay here; he will right his wrongs with the council's long list of complaints Raku, will be very busy…After-

"Then he's going through rehabilitation? Is that is?" Zan looked to Isa for an answer. The mother goddess nodded as Raku took to coming out from behind the tall deity maiden's long legs. ~We want his change to become, gradual. Never forced; as his past did so dictate-

"You. You made him this way, through neglect. Hatred? He was just a _kid_!" Aiden had learned far too much through Horus's eyes. He had seen the past, though the future remained unclear.

He looked over towards his father and stomped off. Hoping Raku was…

"You don't have to listen to them-

"He MUST complete the process, mortal."

Sara Santiago had Anna's eyes widen as the other deity warrior stepped closer towards the young ex-prince Raku.

"He's to complete the rest. Should this program bear fruit, he'll be relocated to earth as decided by the courts."

"How long do most…complete such a program?" Kori asked the guarded goddess. "Will time move quickly on earth? And, will we still be…here?"

"We won't allow the time space 'bubble' to evaporate." Isa assured the red-headed mother of four. Kori looked over towards her son longingly as he turned away, afraid to make eye contact while Astarte had not quit her glaring over Anubis's suddenly foul mood. She swung her braids back around; catching the eye of Anna, who froze up the moment the two had decided to finally communicate only feet apart.

"I'm going back to earth, as a bodyguard for my brother's sake." Demanding as ever, Ava gawked up at the sight once her eyes had caught a glimpse of her sibling's inner fire-power. Her aura lapped at the heels of Astarte's celestial pedestal. Only those gifted with such a curse could see animal figures; a bright phoenix with wings set ablaze, and a lunar crescent brimming full of starlight, right before a Lioness standing in its rightful place. Ah, as far as ultimate deities did go; at least Sorcerer Gregory wasn't here to criticize anyone.

"Not wise, but how about this instead?" Astarte had poor Nina for a loop; as the android swung up from behind the red headed eighteen-year-old with her eyes widened – what had Astarte just done?

"You'll be registered as a resident in not California, but where Isa is stationed currently-

"What?"

"That..." Aiden stopped his twin with a seething interrupt. "I'm staying with her for a month, in Manhattan-

"Are…" Anna looked back to Ami who was afraid to say a word. She then looked over to Ava; who'd helped Christopher off of the floor. "What about him?" The silver haired child of Reia asked. "Is..Raku-

"We'll be away." Aiden stopped and turned back to kneel down and meet the young ebony child's eyes. His auburn orbs peered back as if, this were goodbye.

~You'll promise?" The boy's spoken word seemed to bleed through; his human sounding speech would replace his immortal soul's only known means of communication. Raku had learned to speak the way he had for eons due to his supposed birth right. Lilu had trained the child away from his glorious golden crown and place beside his dead father, Lord Azag. This boy was replacing all of those memories now; his heart was for nothing else…Yet…Laws still were rules; those factors which kept Raku from being able to leap into another separate universe without a babysitter. Aiden also was still untrained; despite having his lovable kid sister, it meant very little to the council. For once, their words made sense. Raku nodded, having Aiden to reply back with a small smile;

"I'm going to help you, just like we promised. After you get out of counseling in heaven here, you'll be one of us. Family."

~I'd like that. Very much. ~

Raku; to even Astarte's dismay, smiled and lit up her eyes to leave the presence of Anna's flitting aura…His power-source abilities…So. THAT was where Richard Ainsley had received his strength, his curse was his father's as well.

"Well, that's settled then!" Ron slapped Kayumon's back with a hard swat triumphantly. The very abrupt tap rattled the sky fox's form as he tried to wobble to his feet. Finding that standing up was so far an ordeal with too many foxes in one room, he grumbled to himself unhappily.

Augh...Sayu. Is _that_ why she'd not been at the council meeting? But, why? She had been bewitched by the dragon's powerfully dark craft in the past. It wasn't at all clear in his mind, she'd been cured as a result of the Titans heroes' efforts. He was eternally grateful... And not to mention Aggie's attacker, that was a shocking development. What _was_ going on in the shadows? The fox's flaming tails were sheltered for now, though Aggie. They had to act now.

Ron blinked; noticing they were short two…Oh!

~Did our busy- body uncle run off with Shoji's secretary?~ He looked up and threw a palm flat to his face, astonished by how that had gone unnoticed.

~Were we under for long, mates? ~ He asked the disgruntled Kayu with a wave over to his half- brother; who'd still been pondering many of the events from the team's earlier arrival.

~Concentrate on watching the Chosen, Ronald. ~ Answered the light-haired fox as he snuffed out his brother; hoping to connect to Sayu's cabinet in time.

~A bug bit ya? Well, then!" Ronald dropped his speech as his eyes then spotted Anna Grayson; brooding in a corner over the decision she'd just made out in public…Kid was a mess after all this jumping around from plane to plane of existence. Aiden however had gotten used to the shuffle. Maybe he just masked his emotions better? Kids today were all an enigma as far as Ron was concerned.

Aria had rushed off too! Jostling back his long mane of a wild yellow with streaks of the sun and lightning storms, Ron decided to take his brother's decent advice for once. "I'd rather it be my stayin' by you blokes for a bit. So, mind if I crash around your neck of the woods. Just, for a while? -

Fast forward to the present…../

"You are NOT staying at Titans tower. East or west, you heard me? Nu uh, no way Hombre!"

"No! Habla en serio?" Mas e Menos zipped up from behind Garfield as he jumped a few inches away from the speedy twins' toes. They landed in front of Ron and pointed at his appearance. He'd gone half- dog with his ears and tail popping out. Thanks to being ditched by Aria, Kayumon, Wiz Greg, Astarte, Isa, Kaien, Shoji; who had no reason to be here now anyway, wasn't there to deal a deck of cards - really? Ron was down for the count. He'd tried every hotel in a ten - mile radius of Jump City, though something HAD gone down while the heroes had been battling rebuttals for multiple Immortals and political allies up in hyper -space!

A dangerous development had left those businesses strapped down; as a state of emergency had unclearly gone into effect. A viral flu pandemic was raging back in Bao Shi Lan and Lady Lynx spirit Min's territory, while Shoji had been relocated to the Eternal quadrant for further questioning. Poor Ayane and Tsukiyume had gone back to Japan to find out more on the cases and their growing count. As all of this, eerily made Raven look back to that fight with the freak show who had kidnapped Agatha in the council's courtroom, the time the heroes had lost on earth remained stabilized by the time- bubble's effects. The deity on high really knew their way around inter-dimensional rifts.

Ron rolled his eyes as the sea air tickled his nose; Gar Logan's ranting was becoming a major funk to the lightening dog as he tried again to plead his case out.

"A few things don't really touch at my predicament the right way; one. I'm unable to stay and watch over you kids and your chosen if I'm stuck in the UK or New York again. So again? Why can't Cyborg here make an exception this once! And two; not to forget that Ami is going to Osaka to study magic on a whim! You'll need me more than ever…!"

"We just can't make another mistake; your cousin Vee, was the first to crash land and drive us _all_ loco!" Gar threw in a shout as his hands went up. A very 'Beast boy' trait that had never left the green age surfing champ behind for long. Cyborg though at least seemed to have matured a bit more; he had a kid and a significant other to protect as Karen Beecher shot him daggers through his arm's C.O.M.M unit.

He chuckled at the recollection; how Verra had first introduced the story of Lord Roku to the teens back after the group had just come home from defeating Brushogun in Japan. (A new beginning, first fan fiction I ever worked on after trouble in Tokyo had the series brushed aside- no pun there needed?)

Shoji's name apparently back then did not exist to the heroes, for back then they were not the heroes of the Earthen plane to anyone in the spirit world or its many worlds at all. The world had been able to reveal itself to Robin and his companions once Slade had opened up that can of worms, making his bargain with the spirit of Roku from after his defeat at the hands of Trigon. At first, they had believed that Trigon had been absorbed by Roku's craft, thus Slade had but one alternative once the gem had saved Earth without breaking a sweat. Raven had not sensed Trigon for a very long time since. Even Roku; who'd been caught talking through Slade in that past, had explained a great deal of how he'd escaped The Pit Of Ends. A divide from within a prison cell dimension that the Universal and Immortals had painstakingly constructed to prevent another rebirth of the king in another individual, such as his host being later Slade, then another known as Lothos; a soul stealer breed of Vampire that existed from a separate time from the Titan's own. Roku had body swapped, overshadowed, and even absorbed souls by the number of thousands to stay alive. In fact, he may very well, like his children and wives hve been dead long before. Raven had discovered that Spirits like Roku were rarely considered good. Yet his ability to gain a form like that…Was he a deity as well in a past life?

Raven tried to let the mood she'd taken on subside. It was, difficult. Those thoughts should have been..

"Remember how used to turn into that cartoony guy- Calumon and cry all the time?"

"Kay had his, faults too." Raven reminded the green hero from off to the side. "He wasn't on our side back then, but brainwashed by Slade."

"Slade?" Speedy blinked at the heroes as Mas e Menos shuddered violently at the thought of that mad-man's title. A killer, a monster…Diablo.

"A problem would arise, it is as Friend Ronald though says." Kori glided over without hesitation. Ronald nodded in thanks and continued towards gaining a free bunk, before the sun set and he was left shivering in the cold!

"Starfire, hon." Karen Beecher frowned and pointed at the weather dog. "He's not comin' in without a pass. I am watching Batman's kid, Beetle; and Gar is still kinda –

"I'm adult enough to know when someone's being stingy!" Garfield turned his nose towards the fox; his concerns running further back to a time when Vee had been the number one trouble maker around.

"He's staying put." Anna came up next to Damian as the teen looked the powerful red head over. "Who made you our leader again?" He sniffed.

"Astarte's orders." The young woman seethed as she tried to keep her rage in check. "Ron is watching Aiden's progress. Solario isn't here to finish with his training."

"Good ole' Uncle of mine and yours'." The lightening dog shook his head with a momentary sigh; fatigue was overtaking his energies here quickly. If the dog didn't get to recharge soon, his battery would be at its limit once the heroes DID need his help. He didn't like to dawdle, so Ron nodded. Agreeing that Astarte had sometimes been soft, other times a real –

"Your unit!" Zan pointed to Dick and Kori as their C.O.M.M units had started to function normally. A whirling swirl of light emitted from the core of the Titan's devices, and then a clap as if time had…

"The bubble…That's not-

A portal from the screens! And it was whirl pool sized to boot!

"DROP THAT THING BEFORE!"

Cy didn't get to finish as Damian had to shield himself, Gar's hawk image was set off into a panic as well.

Zan screamed before the heroes were all shoved back by a gust of eerie winds; dark as the night, they encircled the group and Raven, who batted back with a mantra just as ominous.

~AZARATH METRION ZINNTHOS!~ She started to attack back, trying to stop the flow of magi from where ever it had come from. The power…..it wasn't that…She was sweating as a figure emerged from within the whirring vortex, to stand right before the heroes…

All in black, their long-lost candidate in hell had gotten loose again.

~This sunlight is dreadful…Where now is our chosen hiding? ~

The black laden fingertips and hooded cowl of a familiar maiden spanned across the heroes' vision. A kaleidoscope of shades and stars; dancing before Raven's clearly bewitched set of orbs.

~Cici…~

Ron reverted to his warrior self; his guardian image a cut that sliced its way across poor Cecilia's heart. She was doing this to finally be set free. They were in her way…

Raising a wrist laced in cobwebs and dusk, Cecilia Crescendo Daia chanted a spell. Her small hoard of creatures finding the glass a tad too narrow to enter through. They cracked at it with thorny toes and beaks made of steel and iron. The crack was getting widen as Gar roared out in his lion's form. ~You've gotta be kidding me! What's she!-

~IMPERIUM DOMINATUS!~

"Stop!" Raven knew that spell from its Latin roots. Cici was not coming to fight. She was here, to overthrow the order of their plane. Earth's dominance by the ungodly protégé of Hecate herself.

Her eyes glowing an unsightly golden, Cici commenced with the takeover. The walls of time and space shattered as dozens of demonic looking devils and spirits made their presence forever remembered.

~Wait!~ Raven looked over her shoulder to where he allies were –

"Rae? RAE!~

The empath blinked; daylight stared back as far as the Californian horizon. She shuddered; looking behind her then to where…A vision…?

"Raven, we were about to do a vote; Ron stays if we have even one person out of this." Cy nudged the heroine, who gulped and tried to breath a second longer. "I'm here, then…how many so far?"

"So far Cy, Bee and I are goanna say Nay to the attention hog." The green hero snorted. "Everyone else is calling him a good guy but…We are booked! Where is he goanna even sleep tonight! -

"At ease kiddo." Ron chuckled and started to shrink down; his body morphing into a figure who brought an immediate smile to Mas E Menos's and Kori's faces.

"Another VEE!?"

Even Richard had to laugh though at the change of face Ron had decided to swap from another alternate dimension.

"Cartoons. You, chose a cartoon character?" Bumble bee slapped her hand across her face and groaned. "Here we go again…Ok! So…. You are?"

"Call me Jolt. I know it is super inconvenient, Sheila. But I don't shed as much as you think." Ron; or rather this Jolt-on (Jolteon is here !) had fur as sharp as a porcupine. His eyes were almond shaped and kitsune sized wide. They were orange and yellow with black irises and ring around which made the dog look nearly, holographic.

His tail was as his body; white around his neck, golden yellow as an adorable Labrador, and his head as a fox's. His jaw as cute and small, though as any dog could, he'd have on trouble biting through a perfectly good leash to prove his loyalty to the team otherwise.

"La Perro, es….Cute?" Mas E Menos shrugged while one of the brother's curiously scratched his head. What was this creature? It looked like a video game character or something a child could draw without any effort!

"Then what can we do." Speedy did jump in, now understanding that Ron had never intended to take on for an answer with that fuzzy face. "As long as you don't throw any wild parties, I say we take the vote up- He's in. Sorry Garfield."

"Agh! This is why gambling stinks you guys.." The team had to laugh at the jokester. Beetle also though wanted to know as much as he could. He dove in to find Damian before the teen had decided to head in with Zan to the tower.

"Hombre? Is he a big shot or something? C'mon! Ever since we got pushed out of your group, you've been actin' lousy." It was more out of concern than in frustration as Damian sighed, relenting once this Jolt guy was out of earshot.

"Something you …Don't want to know right now." He cleared his throat. "We basically were on trial. I saw…a lot of them."

Zan lowered her eyes to continue. "WE saw THEM."

"Them? Like god or something?" Gawked the blue hooded teen with a racing heart full of excitement.

"Are you!-

"But it's not that….They were like conquerors. Gods not leaders and…They can…shit!" Stomping off, Dami ran past his comrades into the sanctity of the tower.

"They what? Hey!" Zan put a set of fingers onto her friend's shoulder. Leaning in, she whispered the worst of all truths as any man had to hear know, just to know why the newest Robin was running scared from his team.

"They hate humans, and wouldn't stop to destroy us if they ever got the chance…"

Beetle stopped. He could only hear those words. And..they, stung quite a bit.

"Why would…"

"They can and we weren't what they created." She went on, checking to see if the others were listening.

"But…What? Stop, whoa whoa!" He turned around and was baffled; his upbringing too sheltered to understand the harsh reality. "Are yo…What's that even mean? –

"Come inside, I'll finish explaining if you really need to get the big picture." The sorceress hissed and grabbed her comrade's arm, pretending to act as any teen senior might.

Dick looked over from his team; his eyes seeing Damian running away with a furrowed brow. The ex-titan frowned as Anna watched the whole thing in her corner by the bay.

"Not good." She dropped her gaze and scowled at the imprint that darn battle had left. Astarte was calling her. Yes, Astarte, and she had no choice but to listen from then on…


	9. Chapter 9

Teen Titans; New Generations; Chaos Round Part One; Chapter 8: Finally Feeling Unfulfilled for the First Time- Thirsting for Conquest-A Visitor in the Early Morning Light.

/

Apple of discord; food related title? Any connection? Wait and see! My gut is well, sadly coping with short term ibs meds to stop it from crying like a baby so much- so I can dang eat! Bile in stomach so have dietitian appointment soon in a few days. I'm still a prominent health nut as well as sugar freak (and love to cook and bake.) I was 120 or 118 on my good days and went to the gym religiously. Maybe over did it in the heat, my thyroid was also kicking like a child in the womb. Misdiagnosed back then. Took out milk of all things but ate dairy rich goat's milk and lots of cream-based things on a binge…. AND I live in the USA ON TOP OF ALL THAT. **

Noted; experimenting with your diet is fine, but don't overdo it! The gastritis is finally healing and potatoes are a real blessing around this time, as for now anyway….

A gallbladder has a function. Treat it with respect as all organs because you only have one until it's done. Noted the western carb rich goods on a budget and a rather too fast paced lifestyle led partly to my down fall I believe -which was a real bummer. Growing up requires discipline. Also, my grandma and my aunt both had theirs' removed... I had none of that until last summer happened and it just got worse over time. But knowing plenty is the best method. Now knowing too much? You don't want to know. Now, back to the story. No pity - party today!

/

Lessons were what she thought she'd been handed. It was homework. At only a month's given time, a year had not exactly gone by. It was September and the heat of Osaka was just starting to dip into an autumn's wave of golden lush; as delicate as the maidenhair trees of Japan and all across the east Asian countryside. Ami pushed back a stray lock of hair from her side as her skirt rustled from the cooling, though slightly humid breeze. She sat on a bench set aside for the restless; her eyes transfixed on her homework sheet, as well as the test results of an exam she'd taken only a week ago. She sighed and turned her gaze towards the sky above.

Osaka wasn't as heavily commercialized as Tokyo in some regions; she'd been placed in a spot closer to a suburb than anything. Ami was relocated after Shoji had been summoned back to the spirit realm on a new mission; to oversee to his newest charge. Raku was repeating his time to correct what had been done in error with Lilu by his arm in the past. Now, Yume was watching after the child as if she'd taken on the role of a full or in this case, part- time care taker.

Ami's new excursion after classes had ended was to see to her magic; Amaterasu's gift which was still inside the fourteen-year-old to be. Next year hadn't come. A bubble she'd been told by Haru and Kaede had burst, setting the clock back to a point in where the Titans' quest had originally been spun.

Aiden was eighteen just like Anna. They were going to college as if nothing had changed. Raku was waiting to finish his rehab program; her parents were tired as usual over having to work and nothing else interested them. Ami was a beacon of light in their lives. She didn't realize how big of an impression she'd left, only after the kid had been scouted by a sun goddess and her honored sect in Japan.

Ami bit her lip and took the paper back, to shift to her pack and stuffed it away. Her hands were shaking a bit. A flashback of her first having entered a second class; one for young mages that only ran through sundown to midnight. She had little sleep sometimes in between and had fallen prey to the reprimands of many teachers upon her arrival. Now, a few months later she'd gotten used to the struggling and numerous changes.

A girl who had still the nerve to tease Ami; even after she'd made the grade in her sorcery course, was a Dairenji Satsuki. A family name from Tokyo's richest background; Satsuki's was one that still had qualms over their connection with the real Takahara's (before Veravakumu had replaced the poor guy forever) prestigious name and background. Here, names gave you power and respect. It was a badge of honor not to be dragged through a person's life time any other way, but with dignity and grace. If you had a grandfather who was once a general or a prince in the feudal era, you had to prove that your skill was still just as sharp as his blade had been in that same distant past.

Ami was an American outsider. She had the term 'Otaku' labeled onto her until she'd stopped asking her classmates in the girl's regular prep school about what shows were on daily. She was not really any big conglomerate head's child- she was…only a friend of the faily. That still left her out in the open to be picked on by Dairenji's posse after classes. Today, she had been lucky; they'd left her alone which had Ami also worie about the next day and what that might mean for her packed lunch…

She'd become quieter, reserved and not as chatty as the bright twelve-year-old of her long- neglected past life. Though Ami wondered if the sixteen-year-old version of herself that her sibling Anna had seen was in fact her own body…. With a reason to carry on here, she'd be more comfortable in in a few years' time. Why was growing up so hard? And in another country, no less! Ami sighed and tried not to think about those questions for a while as the wind above had started to change direction. She had to get back to Yumi's complex. It was cozy; she'd made her bed every morning, and breakfast was there the night before, ready to be steamed or toasted up in time for a brand-new day.

On weekends like Sunday; since Saturday was also a school day for most of Japan once upon a time, Ami and Tsukiyume trained with Haru and Kaede inside the temple of the sun goddess. Then, they went out for a snack as a reward for all their hard work. Those days in particular always cheered Ami up. But now.

The winds picked up. Ami shivered under her lighter uniform's jacket; just as a droplet of rain had plopped right onto the bridge of her nose. Ami looked up into the sky and then realized; her homework was going to get drenched!

"Ah! I have to hurry!" She whined as the droplets only increased, along with the ebony haired fourteen-year old's tension regarding a typhoon warning for the next month. It had been on the news that Japan was dealing with an Epidemic as well. Ami hoped that her mom and dad were ok in California. It was hot but viruses were microscopic. The seasons aside, diseases could survive through a global ice age. (Look it up!)

She dashed towards a nearby stop sign as the first few waiting before her were headed on towards the next block. The suburbs were now right close to a few cafes, restaurants, a book store, a card shop, and a grocery. Ami had ended up downtown; but she still had a way to go before she'd luckily reach the door to Yumi's complex.

"I'm almost there…Ah! My shoes are all wet!" She almost cried out while waiting in the middle of the crosswalk. Ami blushed and ran right across the street; hoping that'd she'd not acted like a true foreigner again. When she'd already gotten the hang of ordering out? No way! She shook her head and kept running closer, hoping to find her way home.

"I know when children's day is, the local cherry blossom viewing, and the town's Obon festival goes on in this country in….Ah! I'm getting soaked!" She ran even faster now and was just a few feet to her block when-

**Thunder** clapped against her ears.

_Lightening_ lit up the sky as dragons dancing through the air.

Dragon…. Could it be?

~_Ron_...? ~ She looked up, but it had already passed. Ami resembled a drench poochie herself. She wasn't transfixed for long as the thunder boomed aloud, out _**again**_!

/

Yumi had gotten home just before the rain could pelt her relentlessly. Working in a firm in Umeda; the hub of business in Osaka respectfully, Yumi wasn't far from Ami's school. Why she'd decided to trek it back was beyond the older woman's understanding.

~If she'd just waited for me to call her…~ The boiling curry-pot was close to done, as Yumi dipped in a special utensil into the stewing mass to scoop up a taste towards her lips. She smiled from the certain joy this dish might bring to another's face. Ami had fallen in love with Japan, though she never failed to hide it from the snow guardian's wise eyes. Her love of the culture and its sweets was genuine as the girl had blossomed under her caregiver's firm hand.

Tsukiyume had tried her hardest to provide for Amelia Grayson since the move had left the girl with too many questions for the snow priestess to answer all on her own. Haru was also going to classes to watch out for Ami, while Kaede was too old for such things and stayed around the home and the goddess Amaterasu's shrine in case of any emergency calls to action. As simply Ichimiya Haruko, she was not allowed to act as any more than a colleague from a distance, as Ami now was a target due to her reincarnated abilities as Amaterasu's next vassal. All of Haru's previous past names had been reduced to a baby sitter's position, yet her desire to see Ami learn as much as she possibly could was admirable.

Kaede was, a bit rough around the edges with the fourteen-year-old American child. She was the oldest and had finally started to live up to her title a bit more as a year slowly had the purple tinged fox…To lighten up a bit around the young charge from the states.

However, she had also taken on a third position as a stand in for Amaterasu; she headed the council meetings while her younger sister Haruko took to watching over the new 'soon to be' solar relic.

Ami had it tough though. After tonight's meal, Yumi was _supposed_ to have her charge up and readied for combat practice with her peers at the goddess's temple. It was a secret society of sorts. The priestesses who trained there were subjected to long hours casting mantras and performing curses if they needed to act the true part of a solar kissed, full-fledged Miko . It was raining pretty hard though as Yumi swapped her attention to her cell's weather application. Strong gusts; and a seventy percent chance that week?

Ami was still farther behind her class and even a bully had shown the poor kid that she still had a functioning dark side. Poor kid. She had almost dragged her enemy student Dairenji…Why did that name seem so familiar..?

The doorbell **pinged** loudly. Yumi looked up from her pot of curry quickly, then turned to the wall clock's set time.

"She's later than I would have guessed." Ami's eldest guardian turned towards the living room where the elder fox sibling; Kaede had a magazine over her eyes. She was sprawled over the sofa while snoring loudly without warning. Kaede had been up earlier and had even helped to prepare and breakfast and then lunch by the late afternoon. By four, her eyes needed to close for a while. That was, just before the wafting aroma of curry rice gave the older fox sibling a good wakeup call to act on her animal instincts as Yumi bounded with that scent towards the entranceway. The fox's nose twitched from the smell; her hungry eyes waiting to find the right moment in time in which to drink it all in…

"Kimasu!" Yumi didn't wish to wait for the door to unlatch itself from its own hinges.

" Chottomattekudasai!" She pried open the latch as a wheezing, exasperated teen came directly into view from off on the other side. "Ami- chan!" Gasped Yumi.

"You are not going to come inside until you've gotten all of that water off! Nani o kangaete ita nodesu ka?" Yumi put her hands to her hips and frowned. She was going to get a few towels down from the closet..argh. But right _now,_ though…Ami was soaking wet **all** _**over**_!

Ami lowered her head and sighed an overthrown apology back to her caretaker. "_Moshiwakearimasen_!-

"No! _Iie_! You don't have to do that much." Yumi flustered up with her hands tied. "Come, you are going to catch a cold in that uniform." As the girl was escorted by her caretaker, Yumi could have sworn she'd heard the faintest chuckle of a nosy kitsune in the living room, just having a laugh all at her own expense.

/

Yumi brought herself to cool off as well with a cup of ocha in the kitchen. As the shower water sounded from down the other side of the complex, the winter priestess let out a sigh of contentment, for the moment anyway..

It wasn't a small place to say; it was a house though felt more like a pent house if one could call it that so nicely. Still, the walls were thinner; enough to hear everything in case her charge was in danger. That had been thanks to Sakurano Ayane and her scheming boss only months before the dog had been called back to the spirit divide. Apparently, he still had a lot of questions to answer, including those lengthy answers the fox had withheld during their last debacle with a certain Agatha; the Delphi incarnation of a Greek Goddess, now coming back to the present day and under constant surveillance by the council. She'd been kept a secret from everyone for much longer than the guardians would have liked.

As for- Now?

Where you might wonder did poor Yumi or Ayane and their companions fit into Takahara Shoji's reckless back- stabbing? They, were witnesses none of the time at first. Ah, though due to Cal's bloodline, he was put up to the pedestal with a scowl, along with those involved with the Earthen's chosen heroes.

She'd noticed Kayu's change of attitude once the wedding had been called off after two things had occurred; when the mysterious epidemic happening all across the human world had been discovered, and because of (primarily) the white fox's status as Lady Youbi; Sayumon's dignitary, for the Earthen and Celestial realm's sanctity. Sayu had taken the cake for changing the groom to be overnight, again.

As a standing scout for the countries Britain and New Zealand as well as Indonesia, he had a lot on his plate to seize up to; and after such a long time off to plan his wedding. Which, had only gone so far. Now, Yumi longed for a chance to turn to her old friend. He had done too much when it came to covering for Takahara's shady dealings with another plane entirely. It seemed almost…

"I'm all finished, Yumi." Tsukiyume felt her hairs go erect as she turned to view the fourteen-year-old Amelia Grayson; in the hallway with her hair brushed back and her day clothes swapped for something cozier on a rainy day, as today had certainly become that way…

"Are you alright to come in and eat then?" Yumi called over from the kitchen island. "I'll gladly heat up a plate for you. And, Haru was also calling me asking for –

"I did run off, but it was super embarrassing! She's the one who wouldn't leave me alone about –

"Ami?..._Yaawnn_!…Where …_is_ my twin?" Kaede yawned loudly from the sofa and rubbed her eyes while still trapped in a mid-hazy state. Ami stood dumbly in the way as a furious set of footsteps from the stairs beside the child's position…she soon answered back to the older twin's questioning with a swift –

~Haru – onee-chan was worried sick! ~

As far as doting, Haruko had become more so a big sister with one terrifyingly stereotypical complex. Kaede groaned and rolled her eyes with a sly grin. "Should have gone with plan B, sister!" She laughed as Ami was bombarded with the coddling, worried Haru's many whining complaints of 'you made me worry way too much!' Or, 'did anything happen to you? Why were you in the shower just now? Did you get lost in the rain?' Things like this were common, as Ami could not hope to stay of trouble always when it came to a minor meltdown. Haru was one nosy fox which left poor Ami to have insecurities beyond what was even considered psychologically validated by science! Or some off junk about emotionally disturbed teens having poor social skills due to their stress in the home…Any case!

Haru's ears and tail had popped out upon her rude landing into Ami's shocked form. She still had been drying the last of her locks too. Haru was as a kitten against the girl; lovingly trying to remain close. The truth was, she felt as if it were her failure, even if Kaede had also been in charge. Yumi groaned and got up from her meal to help the youngest out. Haru was unforgivably plucked off of the child; a leech for the girl's affections and forgiveness! "A bit excessive. Don't you think so, Haru?-

"No no! Never _ever_! Ami- Chan needs proper guidance! We are foxes of the **goddess** and _she_ will one day command many forces as a result of this…._So_!~

"No **more**! You've **made** your point _already_!" Kaede was getting annoyed as she grabbed the television's remote from the closest coffee table she could locate. "What's on the news tonight? Any juicy gossip? -

The site before them was not at all what the others had expected. The screen flashed on, only to reveal right before the group something even juicier than the foxes, priestess, and middle school girl had first anticipated;

~Breaking news in the Shinjuku business world today! The director of Takahara Corporation has just sent out that he will be aiding in devising a proper vaccine for the newly named virus; Havoc-2020. ~ (I'm trying not to piss off any bots so let me know if Chaos arc will here if I tone down these references.)

"Pan…"

"Dem…."

"Wha!?"

Ami grabbed the remote from Kaede's paws as she upped the volume without taking her eyes away from the screen once to blink.

~The executives of our company do work with the Pharmaceutical firm Holt Technologies. ~ Shoji was on TV with Sakurano Ayane and one other staff right beside the dog…

"He isn't going to..." Yumi tried to not say it. Verra knew alchemy, and a great deal too. If he EVER tried to step in when he had so many warrants already out on his immediate…oh no...

~We have several options so far and our data is only growing over the course of so many months of tireless research. ~

"No…" Yumi held her breath as both the foxes and poor Ami somehow shared their ally's pains.

~We have some time yet, but a cure isn't unlikely from what my staff and our team of scientific minds have cooked up. We are intending to have a trial of a very specific compound that might put a-

"Turn it off-

"No!" Ami surprised the group with one stubborn toss of her locks to the side. She frowned to her caretaker. "Uncle Shoji is in trouble!" She protested.

"He's breaking ten violations, Ami-

"Ami!"

Haru bounded off after her ally as the frustrated parenting Yumi could only give, had failed her..

The screen swapped to a second story connected to the first, which brought the snow priestess back from her doldrums. ~ As for the root cause of the virus; scientists had discovered a Norwegian rat in Manhattan that exhibited symptoms back in mid-December. Scientists are currently investigating the station where the rat was spotted; hoping it-

"It was a government agent's ulterior motive, human!" Kaede hissed at the reporter. "You humans are quick to point fingers at a rodent. Why not that unruly, colony of fleas on its backside?" She snorted and returned to skimming across the pages of a popular magazine in Japan at the time; Chunichi Shimbun. The news; local and otherwise, its pages were the only distraction besides comedy hour on the tube the older fox needed while on her home plane of the Earthen here. Well, as that still lay in existence…. Her Edo was no more. In a time of feudal war lords and gods and demons; she preferred this time; its urbanized simplicity far outweighed the negative outcomes of the rural past by far, even without a true emperor at the head of government as in the kitsune's life time.

"You could stand to be a bit more responsible, Kaede." Yumi tutted and walked off to see to the poor teen up in her room, moping over a lost battle between she and three other caregivers.

"Humph. Want me to raise the volume, Youkai?" The fox sniffed and stuffed her face back behind the magazine's front page. "I'm not getting too close to her again. She has to face her demons without my holding her hand so often. Kaede right now needs to chill out, like you said."

"Very well. Then clean up your mess once you are finished here, would you?" Yumi tossed in a command for good measure, making the younger kitsune fluster pink from behind her paper barrier. "Alright!" She groaned and gave in a with tired yawn. "Back to sleep…"

"Hey!"

The window from behind that stood opposite the two in that living area burst through; the light shining from it was a portal, a visitor had come? At this hour? And in the pouring rain?

/

Aiden's eyes blinked awake. His eyes groggy from staring into his laptop's screen since that evening. His time on the screen read one o'clock. It was already morning and his classwork was st-

"aaagh…" Aiden groaned and shoved the silver device from his lap. "Shit! I was awake, right? Better call Frankie…"

He reached for his cell which had a battery power of nine percent. His perfect record for being the tardiest Grayson in his entire family still left the nineteen-year-old to wonder why he'd gotten in to photography in the first place. It wasn't that he'd wanted to, it was…An obsession really.

After Ava had gone back to her new home in the Eternal Barrens of the Spirit world's far northern sect, Aiden had started to question what lay before him after graduation; would he follow any dreams, or would his life be predetermined for him as his sisters' had?

After waiting for the spirit world council to set Raku free from his chains, months had happened to go on by; his time had not rewound as the deity of that next world had expected. In fact, the time had continued, as time cannot run on repeat. A very well put explanation by a certain mystic empath aunt.

He yawned just as the recipient had been ready to answer the blonde's late call.

"Y..Ya..Juu..just a sec!.."

The other bozo was Aiden's college buddy Frankie Marshalls. His major was no better, though he knew how to pull an all- nighter like in the movies. Aiden could have his number even in cyber space time. He may not have even been human with a rhythm that funkadelic!

"You up too, Aide?"

His fingers were typing away at the computer; his eyes wide awake thanks to a really heavy shot from five or ten Tasmanian Devil Energy drinks and a one thousand calorie protein bar- and a home gym! Agh, the only thing stopping this guy from sleeping at a decent hour was his perfect scores in everything he'd ever aced.

That wasn't why Aiden stuck around the notorious Mr. Popular Valedictorian. He just, thought that they clashed since his first 'hello 'to the guy back studying in the college's library. It was a weird encounter; as if you'd discovered another room inside the building that housed tons of forbidden reading material. But, no. It was nothing like that at all!

"I'm stuck. Fell asleep on a few sheets that I still have to-

"Send me a link and I'll let you take a look at my notes. Might be better than waking your roomy…Ahh…-

"Kevin was out, not goanna be a problem." Aiden shrugged and got off of the carpet with a heave ho. His legs were numb from sitting in an awkward position; then falling fast asleep over a glowing blue screen. What a nightmare!

"Yah, just send me your stuff so I can proof it a bit. I'm wiiide awake since god only knows!"

"Eh? So, did you try to-

"I did." The tapping increased as Aiden failed to block all of it out. He walked over towards his dorm room bed and sat down with a hard plop. Pooped and ready to keel over if he ever had the chance..

"Stay up! I'm just getting your butt back in shape. You are just testing the waters with course. So, what gives! Is this about-

"No!" Aiden interrupted. "Not her, and not my sisters. They, are in their own worlds right now-

"Like you, dude. And no, I don't carry all the answers around for brats like you to use to get ahead. I know you think of me as your mentor, but you have to stay sharp if you want to get any more ahead."

Aiden sighed and lay against his pillows with a frown; an arm over his eyes to block out the lamp light from his side desk. "I know! My damn twin has told me that for ten years, I swear you're second best to none as far as lecturing me about my being late to everything-

"She's in the marines right now, right? That red- red headed mama?" Chuckled the other teen as he'd received Aiden's paper in document form. "Ohh, you are gonna bomb this if you turn it in! Holy crap, you need me bad!"

Ah! Don't be a dick about it!" Aiden growled and rolled onto his side. "I left too much out. At least half of my research is in the cloud by now…. Unused!"

"We'll get this picked up on again. In the meantime, you should try harder to stay attentive, hombre."

"Shut up…I'm usually super ready to go…But this.." Aiden seethed as if the taste of failure were close at hand. "It's just crappy…I gave a stupid paper on ninteenth century-

"But we are soo past that point! Of course, you got a stinking C on it. Your Professor's a millennial."

"More a kid than the whole class, and they all know it." Aiden laughed softly.

"True, but he's easier to persuade than you know..." Smirked the jackass on the other line, cockily as his whizzing brain seemed to evolve with every click of the keys. Aiden wanted to sigh to that, but Frank had a point. "Professor Ingram is confused; he thinks he should be teaching at Yale. I don't know if California is a bit…-

"Your town, I'm out of Wisconsin. We do not judge. But if I had to say it-

"Stuck up?"

"No, just a bit arrogant as far as humans go when it comes to owning the fountain of youth. I'm majoring later in freaking anthropology. You think I don't get you?"

"Yep, we got it, braniac!-

"He's just cold and heartless. I'm a big bad softie!"

Aiden smiled. It was as if his sister Ami had aged backwards and they were having a discussion…Weird?

"_Suure_ you are, and I'm the clown prince of crime. See? I'm grinnin' from ear to ear!" Aiden faked a cheeky grin while a snort from Frankie meant he'd made his point already clear.

"Ok! So, you have about a few hours. I'm done with my crappy sheet and YOU, had better make the grade, Aide. Night, bozo!"

The phone clicked loudly off as Frankie left Aiden to his two-a.m. blues. Aiden grumbled and tossed the cell to the side; he had only a few hours his ass! He wasn't even close with all of those dead-end paragraphs to fix!

"I'm screwed…" He sighed heavily and leaned back further into the mattress; though something caught the young adult in mid sigh- he remembered why he had tried to go to college. A flashback…

"It wasn't for me….I remember…"

Aiden sat up. His body felt lighter, as if he could finish what he'd started without even trying. He…

~Someone's watching out for me after all..~

He couldn't help but ponder in that fleeting moment. Aiden's dragon of the golden dawn had gone dormant since that time…When Ron had come to stay as a scout while on Earth for a while. Shoji had returned with his list of complaints (and plenty of headway on a new project after he and his allies had cooled off.) In December the winter had passed along without a peep out of the gods on high. Aiden had begged to stay in contact with Raku's channel, but…

Astarte had kept promises with both sides; Raku was to remain, and that year was the coldest ever that Aiden had ever spent. Without his new ally to be guided by someone far closer to the kid's heart than his Aunt Astarte had ever been. Without Aiden to have kept his promise with the poor Djinn child, he'd felt disappointed that holiday.

Anna had gone off with Sara Santiago who had returned as the top dog of her Navy division; Anna was going to go up a few ranks, maybe see the world on the high seas like a real captain in command of her vessel.

As far as Ami, she'd already been making tracks from behind her parent's backs -And with Uncle Takahara's aide!

Aiden had overheard it; that Amelia was supposed to inherit the unified magic of a long since thought lost, sun goddess. Amaterasu had chosen the tween to be her successor, her pupil without saying anything at least to the girl's family. It was a dirty secret that Ami never bothered to apologize for. She just left saying it 'was for the sake of the universe.' Aiden frowned and tried to think back to when the pipsqueak was still a rug rat that followed orders…Well, Ami always knew what she'd wanted. Maybe this was a way she wanted to use to find her true path in life too. Aiden..Was stuck in a rut.

He looked from over the side of his bed a wanted to doze off then and there by the screen; it was still on and…Wait…Was that-

~_Waiting. Waiting….~_

The text read it loud and clear. Aiden sat up straight and could bearly keep his eyes off the item. He'd…How did it!?

"Am I being haunted?" He gawked as the machine had started to float. As if someone was…

"Ah!"

~WAH!~

The figure fell with the machine as a letter from the key pad rattled and rolled off underneath the bed. Aiden had the ghoul pinned; he wasn't letting go. His powers still worked just fine as his star bolt heightened eyes lit up nervously. As the creature had started to show itself from beneath a thin cloak….

"Ha….Hi…~ The kid tried not to look up; shy as ever, his face half hidden by his long locks.

"Huh?" Aiden flung himself off of the pinned tween. Fourteen, long black hair and a reddish maroon…brown cloak…Big eyes like a bratty…He was not even tall for his age at all!…Was this all a dream? Had he fallen back asleep? The kid was slightly tanned and he…Wasn't completely tangible…Guessing that this had to be a vision, Aiden gulped and moved his lips to speak.

"What….Are you doing here….Raku?!"

/

It was occurring; somewhere on Earth, a breach of contract.

The figure peeking in on the teen blonde's reunion looked off from over the rooftops. Her cloak of a midnight dusk had the sky to shield her from being spotted by her now enemies. Not even a full year and the punk jinn boy had shown his face. For what was this? Was he that bored with trying to keep his early promises?

~That clown isn't worth our time, yet my Lady requests more…She thirsts as I have for too long..~

The woman's hair fluttered out from below her hood as a stray gust knocked the delicate façade away.

~My sibling was lost to your painful woes; your tale sacrificed souls when you were once all- powerful. I doubt you could reclaim that title now…idiot. ~ She sneered and left her wavy blonde locks to be returned to her loosened barrette. Her eyes were golden with vengeance behind them, fueled by a past defeat that had been recalled for an entire century in vain.

~Hecate cheated me; I am a queen now if only…If only…~ She couldn't help but turn away from the disgusting scene. Aiden had found his promised reason to thrive. She…She had lost her own love to the same crook in which that dumb blonde wished to salvage from damnation so casually. As if that was going to last.

~The Crescendo were powerful sages of the goddess, now I shall be their guide…The Lunar Witch..And whilst under the watch of my new partner.~ She cackled as the night looked dazzling tonight! It was never over, never would the sun rise to taunt she-

~Cecilia Lunaria Crescendo, no longer one born of the dawn. ~

Cecilia slipped off from the roof; where she stood gazing up at the largest moon she'd known through a generation, even a over the rest of the city as it slept. ~There unto the darkest shroud o' twighlight..She shallst return! ~ Her form went along the walkway; it trans-mutated into that of a spectral shadow as Cici danced across the walls. Cats cried out; dogs howled along as she twirled into stardust, out of sight from the sleeping populace.

~I'll **never** let the sun die, for it shall be _drowned_ out by **our** existence! The Night Order _**SHALLENCOMPASSTHEPLANEOFTHELIVING**_!~

She laughed to her patrons out loud; her love song no longer so bittersweet. It was of a cosmic horror that never should have existed. _If_ the Titans found out? Who would _care_! She was all - omnipotent. All - seeing as the cyclops's eye. As the river's flow, the rhythm swayed on and on, reminding young Cici of that fated night as the dusk carried the star-stricken witch further from her previous destination.

/


	10. Chapter 10

Teen Titans New Generations; The Chaos Round Part One; Chapter 9: Bitter Apple- Sweet as Hard Candy

/

As the sun was readying its return into the sky to usher in a brand-new morning filled with daylight and rainbows, the city streets below were quieted by a presence. One unlike the inhabitants here; a mask across its eyes as the faded bridge between worlds had again shut. The character had trouble holding onto a solid form. Its vision wasn't hazy, though the realm it had come across was coated in a familiar miasma. The creature gasped as its gleaming dark eyes prodded this new world; a scout hunting for its leader, throne to have summoned it into the light of this horrible daylight.

The creature snarled and stalked off on all fours. Its paws not without claws to catch the thing a break. This world was _**full**_ of chaos!

~ I was summoned by another maste…r…~ It sniffed the sky until its snout had HER scent. A white lily, splatter in cold blood…A red rose. A great mistress in need of some, assistance?

~What issue doth she inquire us over? ~ The creature did not talk alone. It soon changed its face as it dove behind some stray trash bins. In a flash, the character reverted to its 'spirit self.'

" _Hmmmn_, is this a just punishment to you, mon _ami_?"

That brunette with his light blue tunic; his eyes sparkling as women who passed the incubus pretty boy swooned. He felt it right to smile sweetly back to the mistresses. Though, why had he been called back? The other form was simply dogged! It had the face of a devilish pet, not his beaked self!

"I **am** a shifter by night, perhaps it shall return- that face which I know best. Now..." Charl looked up from his hunting ground below.

~ If I have an underground lair, where would I have it? ~ Charl rubbed his chin and started to change; his clothing now a modern California style player, he had to act the role before he could join in on anymore- fun.

~ _Aha_!~ A startle, though Charl swerved around to catch that face before him. She was …Not as he'd by far pictured. "**Oh**! YOU A-

"Long time, though I.." She frowned and crossed her arms over her tiny chest. A blonde angel? She was a child no doubt. Charl gawked and almost burst out loud, laughing ag the imposter's stature.

"**Ahah**! You are just –

"Another spot for _wonder_ then, mongrel?" She sniffed and forcefully grappled the older tom-cat by his wrist. Her blue eyes shone back with a frightfully domineering glare. She dragged the goof off towards another ally, his legs barely keeping up as the chuckling had since died out, a gulp was present as the former demonic cronie winced.

"We may speak here then? –

"_**Ingrate**_!" The girl's tone darkened as she let the baffled Parisian male spirit fall back into the dirt. She had him stay down as her stare only hardened, causing the oaf to cringe. "I brought you back to see that I'm all but content with taking over this godforsaken plane. And you…Are not better suited to that form. **NO**." She pulled out an object from thin air. Her eyes had changed as the magical aura surrounding the blonde child soon morphed. It was to one eye that it became a glassy blood red. The other remained lit and blue as hell fire. Charl stopped fidgeting as her powers were in fact not that of a demoness. She had a similar power to a certain demi-God in fact…

"It…. A _**goddess**_? A damnable goddess had summoned this imp back from his sentence?!"

Charl scrambled to his feet, though found that she'd used her magic to force his body into its own state of transmutation. The doggy self with tall black ears and a long whip tall with a forked tip. It had wings as well like a bat. Ugly markings were crossed round its eyes. Its jaws were hungry; anxious as sharp teeth poked around from within the imp's newly crafted jaw.

~ What have you done!?~ It tried to howl, yet only an adorable, pitiful yelp escaped the pup's lips.

"I made your form match your temperament, puppy dog!" The girl giggled as if she weren't a powerful threat. The item in her palm was something as well. She took a bite of what looked to be the sweetest, juiciest golden apple the imp had only imagined from tales of long ago. He licked his lips as she moaned from a second bite of the fruit. Its juices messily dribbled down her chin. She materialized a kerchief as the imp watched from his seat. His eyes never able to stray from that apple. No will in the heavens could oppose such a forceful influence as a magical relic…

"What you crave is not this apple." The goddess smiled and swallowed the last bite with a sigh. "You want to aim higher; word is I'm told…Is that the 'red dragon' has forsaken his role as king to the realm of spirit. Which means…" She smirked at her captive audience.

"His title is up for grabs!" She joyfully announced. "I want the **entire** pot of hold he's got hidden…And you, are going to help me to find just where…" The apple floated dreamily in front of devil-Charl's doggy nose as he dove for it willingly. Curse her daemonic influence over his snout!

Yet she pulled it back, as if holding up his golden ticket out of view for good. An opportunity to serve up some hell to this primitive plane of human sack-puppets. Was Charl really bent on destroying the dragon's new image AND wreaking havoc throughout the planes of earth and spirit?

She was going to enlist Charl in order to see to her wish… He had to be loyal. To change only for her..

"I don't this a demon such as yourself _would_ recognize me." She pointed to her fair cheekbones as a child might, cutely and vainly expressing this point well enough. "I, am thee goddess Eris. We ha-

~ In God's name? Non! You are a !-

"Don't. "The blonde's eyes lowered spitefully towards the dog. No pity between allies.

Charl felt his ears lower themselves; all while cursing this new body - and why could he not fly away? Had she this truly miraculous power over his newest guise? Was this a fair part of the Imp's designated contract?

~ You do not give me a choice then? What are those choices anyhow, I'm curious to know how you'll punish this, underling? ~ He egged her a bit, hoping she was short tempered enough to lose her composure eventually.

"I am she." The girl proclaimed proudly. "And you are now enlisted as a deadly soldier into my tiny family. We will go to meet them!" The apple was again forced to vanish into a pocket of space somewhere far off. Charl had a plan once to leave. Yet now…She looked to be a joke, this new mistress in her white sundress. As blonde as a Hollywood starlet from the 1930's here on Earth.

He sighed as she took to his form; picking it up as a child to her pet, where only the wide would notice his true form walking about in broad daylight. "You'll be the head organizer of my little team." She grinned as the pup was left to wonder as it whimpered, in the child's small arms so fair; ~Why was I summoned by a mere child of the gods? What does she intend to take from the traitor known as Roku? ~

The two vanished behind a crowd of city goers. It would be a steady progress… As luck would have it, California was awakening to that preordained tomorrow. Still, none whatsoever would have guessed that royalty was before their realm's fine line of the imaginative and complex, that this hidden 'goddess' was willing to drop her cherry bomb hard into the crowd if she ever had her chance to do so.

Eris after all, was born of true and utter chaos. Now, she had officially made Earth her planet to conquer. Roku was, though she'd only figured this out much later, no longer around to watch the world burn…Now, she could sit back while watching all of the pieces fall into place.

/

Back in the tower…

/

Robin needed to blow off some steam. He rushed a few punches into a sandbag that was twice the teen's size. Blue beetle without his armor, had been waiting for a turn and was now…Growing impatient.

"Dang it! You made a mess outta' three of these!" He gawked on. "Take it easy, hermano!" the teen shouted at his leader as the late Robin only tossed his hits to hit the third bag to the ground with an undignified WHAP! *.

"You!?-

"Is he at it again?" The next and not so quick to act, Flash's replacement was there. As far as Wally being around, he'd had his chance. Being a few years down the road, Dick had no later walked off the scene and had left Cyborg and Super Boy with the new; Young Justice.

Robin of today's generation was of course a senior by now. Personally; he was as short tempered more often these days. For sure, it showed. Even picking fights had personally become a great blunder for his resume as the bat's only legitimate child. Now in his late teens, he was up there with the first Robin's kids who were currently enrolled in either the marines or college courses. He had one more month to fret over his education, the Titans had come first and foremost. Even when Death-

"Cool it!" Gar came in and his ears were steaming. He turned rooster and let his voice ring out, hurting Cy's poor hard drive as his chest emit a blue spark. "You are just makin' a racket, ya toad!"

Cyborg frowned and conked Changeling on the head angrily for good measure. It was more like a light swat as the others seemed to not worry over the old team's squabbles.

"Hehe! Sorry, Vic. I had to do _something_-

"We'll feel the better once we start practice. The gym is closed, Damian! You can let _go_ of your angst! **Hey**!" Cy found that Dami had stopped, but he looked soaked through and through from such a grueling session of releasing his raw rage onto an inanimate object so, roughly…More than the first Robin had with...

Cy's eyes softened. "Hey, listen." He walked up to Robin and handed him a towel from the rack and a bottle of water as the kid planted himself onto the bench.

"You can't let that guy mess with you. I know, more than you. Sla-

"He's _Deathstroke_." Damian snapped. "**And? **FYI**; **he's NOT just any criminal. He's my grandfather's killer. My mother was fighting for us then too, plus she! -

"She's _not_ goanna blame you for that. It's like ancient history!" Cy brought a hand to the teen's shaking shoulders. "We are going ta' find him and throw him in his cell if it's the last-

"But the JL then? They did what they did then; they personally ASKED for his help in -

"An' you can't do anything about that freak incident neither." Cy stopped his charge and handed the kid the towel. "Batman made his decision durin' the last crisis that his enemy had valuable intel. At that time Dami, the Justice League needed as much help as they could get on hand. Slade was the only one mercenary for hire who had any dirt on who they were tryin' to stop from destroying Central City." Damian threw his towel to the floor. Now it was ready to be put under for a deep soak in the washer. It wasn't going to be worth the effort until much later, as Robin gritted his fists with his mouth already forming into a tightly knit frown. His composure was weak. Raven, maybe later she could help out with that attitude, or not..

"I can't tell you to forget about your family, but don't end up hatin' on yourself and your mentor; going on an' on about revenge like the old Titans' leader di-

"I did that. _Ahem_* the same way. Sorry though, Cyborg. Damian's got a right to sulk for now." Dick had returned again as the room's wide door slid back open. He'd apparently gone to grab Miss. Martian who waved back cheerfully to everyone from beside the senior Titan. That was everyone; including a bashful Con-el, who instantly turned carnation pink from just her presence alone being in the room with him. He could bearly his his awkward grin from her. they'd not gone out since...Well, Cali was experiencing a crisis. A virus and a quarentined mandate for all citizens to take part in .He missed her scent as it wafted on by. Her smile a reminder of his own special longing . how they'd shared something passionate...But that had been snuffed out by an invisible enemy.

"We had a run - in with Slade as the original Teen Titans. And back then Dami, he went by Slade to us." Dick had everyone at his side; feet apart thanks to the mandate. The story sounding as mysterious as a crime novel from the mid 1800's.

"He was ten times worse as a crime lord versus being a mercenary here in the present, and even though he was up against you, at least you didn't lose your mind like my boy Dickie here." Cy joked as Richard grinned back over nervously. The embarrassment was hard to stuff down as he laughed off that crazy attitude he'd had as a full- blown teenager.

"To _you_ maybe he was tougher." Damian rose up, huffed and brushed Cyborg's sympathy aside. He then doused himself with his water bottle's remaining contents. "He's still the biggest traitor I'm ever going to have to put away." He retorted as the room grew still by the teen hero's complaint.

"You an' what army?" Cy crossed his arms and asked directly, not bothering to leave the kid on his own until he'd cooled off from any thoughts brewing up a plan -his skull was no thicker than Dick's had been as a Titan! This was, he had been even worse the older hero since Cy was about pushing fifty, and way too soon to count on his anniversary with Karen to cheer him up!

"You _know_ what's gunna' happen." Gar shrugged and turned to Dick who was actually not…looking too happy about Slade's return. He just knew how to hide it better than his half-brother nowadays.

"We are doing a sweep for his weapon suppliers' warehouses an' storehouses . Slade's never been one for thinking out loud. He hates to be the center of attention -

"Unless he's involved in _another_ perfect master plan of his own making that is. " Gar chimed in. Dami just sighed and had felt misjudged there in their circle as a leader, amid all of these elite heroes from another time. He mentally dismissed the self pity he'd felt then. No, and Slade wasn't to be joked about. The mercenary had to be ended, before more people like Damian's family suffered a similar fate. "Thanks, but I need to go make a quick call. Need to clear my head. I'm excusing myself from practice."

"Just go for a make-up session with Blue in a couple of hours." Gar reminded the teen as he'd too easily slipped off, walking away and heading straight towards the exit before that ebony haired kid was well out of earshot.

Gar's ears lowered as soon as the doors had slapped shut. Dick had the act; still contemplating the whole thing in his mind as if Cyborg had not intended to follow his lead. Cy could sense the awkward tension in his companions' eyes; by the way Blue Beetle scratched his cheek nervously, or how Miss Martian soon became shy and overcome by everyone's emotions, even with her fellow Young Justice in the room. How Con-el grumbled that questionable cuss under his breath before moving towards the exit slowly, muttering that he'd be at practice in a few also.

How even Cy couldn't shake it off either, that Slade was back!

"I'm...Ah, gonna go and see if Rae's gotten a lock on Slade's new hideout." Gar piped up as his ears still remained meekly withdrawn. He headed towards the door in the form of a swallow. Small and swift then, he was long gone.

"Then let's do practice in an hour, sound fine to you?" Dick lifted up his eyes and nodded to Cyborg. The bot nodded. Then, he also made his exit without looking far behind him. It had been cut short again. After all of that, the man's kids had flown the coop, something in Nightwing however…His mind had gone completely south. Somehow, he'd also had a run in with Slade as Mr. Wilson while walking around in Bruce Wayne's company building. Cy didn't want to pry but he had. Now, this was beginning to look all too familiar.

Alone, Blue Beetle and Bart took to Nightwing for an update. Should they stay or start up with patrol? He'd relented and decided to take five. It was getting hotter this month and his family was supposed to have something planned this week. It would be Karen and Vic's anniversary in a few days. Had Dick not gotten this out to poor Kori? They were invited over…But as of now…

He tried to just shrug off the miserable thoughts the hero had left, tossing and tumbling on the worst 'rinse and repeat' cycle. Mid- life crisis. Still, having a second job wasn't as much work as he'd pictured it. They were not at Titans Tower. They were as the new generation; Young Justice. Red Tornado and Black Canary had not stopped by in a few weeks either, come to think of it…

/

As luck would soon have it, there had been reason to go out into the city on patrol after all. Zatanna had added herself to the list as the three and one teacher; Blue Beetle, Zan, Bart, and Cy with Nightwing all set out to keep their area cleared of any suspicious activity- makers.

As far as Jump City, Dick had that covered with Donna or Wonder Girl seeing to the new Titans. Almost identical to (Arc of my collaboration so I'm bending the laws of the universe here! It's just fan-fiction! Bots are on my side here!) Young Justice, The Titans had given way towards a different route. The teens were no longer just working beside other Teens alone, it was inclusive to even adults. So yes. The Titans were no longer the Teen Titans, just to shorten the rest!

Speaking of former collaboration moments, Anna Grayson's missions had taken her as far as she'd hoped. It was just as the fiery red- head had predicted. Distancing herself had left Kori torn with only her career and home life to comfort the now lonesome model and AWOL Princess of Tameran. Dick's later intervening with the new Titans made her restless. At home, the only other person was a neighbor from next door who always watered the flowers in her garden. From their complex in San Diego, Kori and Richard had moved, as this tiny abode reminded the couple of their four children; off on separate planes themselves. They'd relocated a bit northward into a town or two just above San Diego, finding the quiet suburban setting to be serene enough to cover up their loss for a long while. Aiden would be visiting in a few weeks. Ami still had only just begun her training as a student of Amaterasu's sect in Japan. She'd be a while yet, maybe winter or fall the young teen ebony would come up those steps with a smile on her face to brighten her mother's days…

Ava wasn't able to return. As far as her role as an ambassador of the Barrens and of Earth, she had very little control over her fated stay; now being plain royalty, there was no other way to break ties with her teachers or allies of the Snowy Front. When Ava did gain such a rite once she'd taken up the post as Queen officially, then only would she be allowed to see her parents and siblings for Thanksgiving perhaps.

Reia had left her powers unto Ava, who still believed that her incarnated self-HAD Reia's former memories. That she WAS the sage and Lady Reia who had protected the front from an awful take over in the past. In fact, her memories had now vividly changed Ava Marie into a cold fighter.

An emotionally detached ally to the council of the Four Wind Strewn Passages; this included Wolf Grandmother of the Snowy Aurora (Barrens) Aneiu and her mate the Grandfather Shadow wolf Aneius, Melu of the Good Wood of the Spirit realm of olden Europe to the North West had not attended the meeting. Though, Bao Shi Lan of China's spirit divide of wood and wind, Aria of the Southern Isles and daughter to Lord of the Southern Tides; Nereius, Veravakumu of the sect of spirit world India and of the shadow self, Sayumon of the Indonesian spirit sect, a younger voice; from a west African background, Abeni had all attended the event. Abeni had thick braids poking up and out in thick strands around her tween aged head, only loosely held back in place by a hairband woven with an intricate tribal pattern from her home town. Not all of Africa l'acked skyscrapers' where she was from though. They were fortunate to be so close to the city, even a few hospitals if someone had a fall such as the elderly residents. The granddaughter of the noble Yoruba; Abeni had an eye for justice and keeping the peace in a more peaceful way than her public knew of the child's actual given gifts and abilities. She was a bit rough with her words though knew how to get the attention of all she knew to come into contact with. Abeni was of the Earthen divide now, reborn. Earth of the Western plane of spirit had left not the child Rhaine in charge, though old Dragon Earth (previous arcs ago, read up on that ) had tasked the elven child of his council of the underground with watching out for Abeni's new track record of making what seemed to be miracles, happen.

To the Eastern European nation of Hungary, another face had also joined in as a dog…with…Hah, one _other_ sort of fancy. Her name meant bright or famous; for she, was Klara of Hungary to the present, and was a guardian of emotional torment, who had a knack for resolving love issues with her upbeat songs. (I'm aiming for Cecilia to have embodied Ellie Goulding as you saw in the UK To the Future arc, Aria as Andrea Grotto or Ariana Grande, and lastly Klara for Marina, though she is from both the UK and with a Greek background partly. I thought this would be interesting to play with!)

She was a runner up for the title of Aphrodite, since apparently, someone had fudged up the names which had left Esmeralda off the hook back in Portugal. So far, no hungry tyrants had made a mess for ten years it seemed! (This is very Disney- esque! The guardians are tasked with keeping the humans in line so that the spirit world is kept from view. Sort of blind leading the blind. That's why Raven had to ask if the council was actually a threat to the present-day Earthen.) Klara had always loved pop- idols and had even given in to becoming a scout for Aria or Andrea Grotto's cause. Her title was as a guardian of the Earthen due to her love of well, fun and joy? She was short with cotton candy curled light pink hair and a dress that screamed candy kawaii. Her dress today had tan suspenders and was paired with pink and white polka dot above the knee socks. As bizarre as it was, another character had _also_ been born unto Sweden's Earthen- present day plane. Sten Anderson was dressed like an official at the wide meeting's table. All but for his grey haired pony tail and sharply polished and clear- cut, clean shaven appearance, he sat as a picture-perfect control freak who didn't mind being considered resourceful as a well- known fact. He had the age and built beneath his uniform of a regular teenager, though the boy had the demeanor of a stern eyed father of the entire clergy in Rome (not to say that this is the case today, it varies apart from a person's personality!) His light grey and blue suite top was decorated in medals that ranged from those meant to congratulate his father's company for many feats in both science and medicine, as well as those duller shades which symbolized the corporate giant's ongoing prosperity. Sten was a minimalist in the making; not saying he was a clean freak who enjoyed peaceful resolution and stuck to Klara's side out of interest, though I could also be a plain fact to anyone the teen met up close and personal.

They were not related, yet their states and governments in the past had…Eh, had similar values. (In this arc we are going with that! Not a fact!) For the people's happiness in plain black and white, Sten could ask for nothing else in return. Many at the table today still took to his stoic personality and knew the boy to be a short- tempered, spoiled brat- only at some specific, times though… Only at nineteen, the age group had become quite relaxed; as many more nations besides the ones simply gathered together today, had come to discuss some startling and very heart- breaking news.

"There was another breach." Aria began. "Humh, so…Why then could you NOT have kept the culprits found guilty, contained? -

"It wasn't that easy to manage at first." Sten sat back and tried to cover up his discontent while crossing his arms over his beating chest anxiously. "You run a company that has the rights to half of the council's say." Aria added in as Veravakumu tried to wait for his turn to fight back. "**Why** didn't you deploy the guardians to _THAT_ range in your home-world, then?"

He turned to Lady Sayumon; who was more together than her younger patrons had seemed in the current moment. ~ The spirit sect was aware, though Agatha becoming a target led the Lunar sect to, investigate matters from within the under-realms. Something _had_ gone awry and Hecate was the first to return word of Cecilia's curse being lifted. Rather, I was not aware that Lady Lilu's spell had still the power to control the last child of Catalina Daia. ~

"Lady Crone Hecate was also aware that the priestess of Crescendo had been amiss." Aria stated quite plainly with a wave off for someone else to take to the center stage.

Wide eyed with enthusiasm; Bubbly young Klara raised a finger into the discussion. "What about this child who was reborn, Agatha? Is she still in danger as she was before? Why do you all fear for this…Hem* one soul's safety?"

"The lamb here has a point. I cannot believe my own words but..." Abeni bit her lip and threw her arms up with a groan. Klara puffed up her cheeks by the comment. She had curly hair that resembled a sheep. It trailed down her back as if she were an adorable woolen beast? How preposterous!

"We are supposed to be on top of this! All of us! Why then? That it's late news just now?!"

~Very late. ~ Bao Shi shook her head and frowned at the floor. ~ Our council is needed in our own home world. Yet the Chosen is still within the texts of our fore- baring gods and daemon. They are all-consumed with his trek through this life, I fear... ~ She responded sullenly as the foolish siren Aria, had been eyeing Veravakumu from across the room.

"Oh! Then what must we do? Are we not responsible for the health of those that we govern individually? My Father Nereius was all but wise. He even refused his second eldest's request to govern the shores of Italy. Hah! I'm doing an amazing job at it! ~ The blue eyed, aqua – mane- wearing - siren's- daughter haughtily flipped her strands to the side anxiously. Knowing she would be looked at as a princess was laughable. She was a queen of the seas and of the southern isles. Catalina's word was to her own, for she was of the Daia division and Crescendo. After the Ainsley Clan had fallen, Catalina's sect and family name had been the better bet in Aria's mad quest towards forgetting about Princess Lorelai. She'd been so attached to the girl in those days, that Lori's father had forbade the child from evoking the siren even as a playmate when she'd turned of age. It was all her energy as a child of the Ethereal. A power source who had caught the attention of Lord Roku as well…

"Do I need to remind my cousin that she's got the council to back her choices?" Veravakumu pointed out bluntly. "I think using her influence to have this meeting come to order was brilliant, but we have a lot of work still to do on the Earthen plane-

"You trust in those mortals so…Have you forgotten where your real motivations lie?" Sten asked with his eyes narrowed on the dog aided by a man's own appearance. "You only want to study the virus since it was your ex-lover who had utilized the culture years ago. Who was to say that you are not to blame for allowing her way! –

"I wasn't at full power back then, cousin," Veravakumu sighed with a hand to his temples. The kid was too uptight. Verra as his fox-hybrid self had been relaxed on earth, until that was Roku had shown his face in Gotham City.

"Our contempt should not be against one another." Kayu declared as Sten again took to reacting as a scolded younger sibling. "If we fight here, the virus will only worsen. The states have not declared it a full blown pandemic completely. California as the fates have stated; will be the first to close off its boarders, at that time we will find the culprit responsible for erecting such foul play on our guarded plane of existence."

~ I never expected you my son, to take charge of this event...~ Sayumon looked over her child with a slight pause. He was fired up, though composed enough not to ruin himself in the long run. His passions would be his downfall. Surely Shoji had noticed this? Even when the kit of Eastern winds had gone ape in Italy only chapters ago (he started barking all sorts of slang and New Zealand borne cusses out at Shoji. Being on Earth too long for a guardian or daemon, deity can mess them up big time. Similar to what happened to Raku the longer he stayed where Lilith had the kid train. Completely brain dead and neurological break downs did occur, like a god going corrupt. That is why 'turning 'is a negative term to the high orderlies. It creates chaos which is what our 'culprit' might be certainly aiming for in the end) he had eventually returned to himself with the right allies to surround him. He had then only to return to Sayu's side later to train and cleanse himself from that trip to the human void.

"Then what are we bound to accomplish only sitting here?" Abeni wondered. "The people of my world do not let those they care about suffer. If one life has to be lost, it is done so that the person no longer alive is remembered for his good deeds. That Veronica you call a demon, she was later on the side 9f good?"

"She was blackmailed into an apprenticeship by Lilu. She was actually a lost spirit trying to tp escape her fate. She had even held onto all of Baphomet's secrets. He had almost successfully stored his magic inside her even when Lilu had overthrown the under realm orderly."

~ She worked for the dragon and took a human billionaire to be her's." Kayu snarled. He still thought the witch had been let off with little to no warning. Shoji had gone too soft around these, criminals thanks to Robin's influence.

"We still have time – Cousin?" Aria's head turned the same time as Kayu's words had been spoken.

"I'll try to contain it, even if the Japanese cabinet is…Harder for most to anticipate, at least the healthcare system is above all else, progressive-

"While you all mindlessly toil away, more lives will only be further lost to these ongoing events. I then say, get to it before the rest of our planes are pulled under with your own downfall." Sten was right as the meeting now swapped over to a horse of a different color; the breach in progress of being investigated.

~ When Agatha had been found to house a Grecian relic, the whole of her sisterhood had risen to speak on the child's behalf almost overnight.

~ Lady Sayu again commented; finding that the rest of her group had remained mute. All but the gutsy Sten; or easily provoked Kayu, and not to forget the justice- bringing young Abeni.

~That being, the girl has a relic, though not of Gaia as 'we of the divine order' had originally predicted..~ Bao Shi was convinced that an omen was to befall their world with more power than the dragon's own. If not an enemy of the born-again tyrant.

"A man outside a shop West of our biggest city was recorded of...having spoken these words that you may assume to be of some assistance; "The god of Chaos is coming. It will swallow up the light of both time and space." Abeni shivered at the thought of time ending here on Earth. The man on the street was sane before the episode too. He owned a shop that sold many goods to the people of Abeni's country, it was as if he'd been possessed for only a short time to deliver a message…..

"A bringer of destruction? Chaos…. Have any prisoners lately escaped the pit or those 'other world-dungeon realms?" Klara asked, flustered by the news as her hairs stood upright as the girl sat stiffly in her seat.

~Just the imp from olden spirit world France...who was never returned to his original form-

"**Charl, the shifter **was set loose?" Veravakumu almost leaped up from his chair. "That Imp was the only one who _wanted_ revenge! He's bound to cause a lot more than simply 'mischief' if you thinking of letting him walk those streets-

"We **DO** have a tracker." Aria cut the man off a moment no sooner. "You wouldn't trust a _siren_ not to sound her battle call, _would_ you dear cousin?"

That won't matter, the virus is only a lure to demon like that runt." Growled the shadow prince as his body forced itself to remain in its current form. Verra was a rascal, a menace if it ever got out now. Veravakumu huffed and tried to sit rigidly back down in his seat.

"I'd hate to see this enemy get away, though Veravakumu says what he means out of us all of this time-line's many past occurrences." Wise and wary, Abeni decided to back track a bit. "There has to be a ring leader; Sten? You'll continue to monitor the Sweden Plane. Klara? Hungary is under your 'eyes' faithful watch as of here and now."

"You are no leader here yet, Abeni." Kayumon reminded the child, hoping her desire for a just end to their debate wasn't too strong right there, not to see into the girl's brown eyes that she didn't mean business. He'd seen that look before. Too reckless, to easily swayed by false promises. Yet strong in the end when it came to the power of the heart…

"Veravakumu has Japan at least aware. Lady Bao Shi? The China Plane." Kayumon resumed with his questioning; this time aiming to know about the virus's source location instead. " Wuhan, has it gone through or past quarantine yet-

~ My children were the very first to have suffered. ~ Bao Shi sighed mournfully. ~The previous winter in Wuhan was fierce in other ways…I have done my best to relieve the country's pain in both mind and spirit, but…Something aims to break them. The humans must be protected at all costs. ~ She said this with all seriousness in her tone. Of that of an elder's tongue, Bao Shi found this stressful omen to have been inevitable. Even without these unforeseen forces, Wuhan's fate was just; they would have contracted the virus without the god's say so. It was fated…Though Bao Shi kept this thought to herself quietly.

~Worry we shall then. Seeing as China of the Earthen divide is much wider than its past projection; Verra will go along with persuading the country of Japan to take to a curative solution, or he will continue to contain this virus with all his strength if he must do so. We other- beings shall also watch over these designated parts connected to the realm of the 'chosen' Earthen's fate. ~

Sayumon spoke up and added; as she proclaimed this to be so. While seeing Abeni's stance relax a bit more, Sten however, still believed the group of daemon here to only be delaying an even greater threat. Here then also, did Sayu's eldest son Kayumon believe that the danger was far worse..She worried about him endlessly as her own inner passions had seemed to wane with every passing sunset.

Youngster Klara was here to learn and listen as her powers had not yet evolved as quickly as Abeni's or Sten's own. She knew of peace yet never yet of war. As the later of her generation, was she a bit sheltered or naïve then? She looked to Sten who had his own demons to conquer.

~I consider the meeting here then as unfinished; though we shall call it 'adjourned' for today. All gods within the void of this realm currently, must stay connected. This threat we now face is thriving; perhaps to shatter that bond between man and the unseen of his creation. This fate is not only the humans', it is also that of we beings born to the spirit realm and beyond its far - greater reaches.~

Sayumon then concluded the session as each relic slowly faded out into nothingness within the lonesome void.

Moments after opening his lazy eyes, Takahara Shoji had returned to his office with his computer's screen lit up in the background. He blinked up then looked at the time on his desktop's screen, while yawning rather loudly. As soon as his lazy streak had revealed itself, a tick had gone off in the white collar pup's brain. His brains behind the operation; Sakurano Ayane burst in through the front door with a scowl across her miserable face.

"Chikokudesu! Do shita? Watashitachi no shimekiri -heya wa saigadesu!" As Shoji received a respectable earful over 'why his presentation had to be rescheduled with the company's top leaders,' or 'why Ayane had had it out for her boss for a good hour and a half,' the fox took to his punishment before later allowing his partner to know the entire situation from the ground up.

"We have to watch ourselves. I think this new enemy, is out to mindlessly make us look like fools for no greater purpose than….To re -create chaos here on Earth."

Ayane shrugged and hugged her arms to her chest with her frown now firmly set into a fine line. "If the enemy is as you say, then are we going to fight as before? This is not fortunate to any of us, we need to find the Chosen again! Daga…"

"Makemasen." Shoji tried to reassure his former ally to the fated Ainsley line. "Mada shinpaishinnaide kudasai."

"Kono teki…" Ayane sighed, hoping she'd put herself back together long enough with his laid- back attitude gracing her presence. "What choice do we have then? If this threat only is, sadistic in nature? A demon? It can be stopped, but if you say it may be after her?-

"Agatha was my reincarnated ally and…A terribly timed project." The fox seethed, knowing that Aggie was no more corporeal than she had been in her past time line. "I put her back on this Earth and now, I have to do the right thing." Shoji decided as Ayane was left unable to rebuke his words any longer.

"Be careful." Ayane finally managed to add as her feet shuffled off towards the only exit ; her superior now left alone with only himself to occasionally blame for anything he'd said or done to disturb his dutiful ally. "If you suffer any more from this one attack, the world-wide virus will not be our only greatest threat any longer, it will be dwarfed by the newest enemy's plans."

"I'll consider your words, so do keep me in your thoughts." The dog waved as he quickly brought himself back to sit in front of an unfinished pile of reports from the lower level's ' top secret ' lab. Ayane left with her eyes down cast towards the carpet. She soon left the door to creak, though not before attempting to catch the shadow pup's attention one last time. "If you should need anything, I will be just out side here. Good luck ." With a modest and less forceful head bow, she made her leave swift and without any complaints from her number one superior. Takahara nodded back before continuing to skim over the mountain of papers that had found their way to his office. It was only no closer yesterday than late-lunch time that this mess had been left in his room...

/

Even miles from Shinjuku, the unwilling Sten Anderson had been forced to return to an official order of business, where his father had planned out weeks ago for the teen to meet his business partners at an organized, clustered setting..

The trance state he'd been in wasn't so captivating; the figure sitting in his seat was the ice- fox, as if he'd been here all along. The board members and dignitaries seated only feet from the lay- man of Mr. Anderson's sizably profitable company only continued to debate on the scourge that was this unbearably new virus; one worse than back in the year of nineteen- eighteen, where a similar flu had disrupted their own businesses and those of the CEO's predecessors - and as a result of it having spread too far across the globe in a mere three months! April on Earth would be a rather rushed month to take out the threat permanently. Sten though was aware and confident that his 'being reborn' into this time would remain a challenge, though it gave him the upper hand politically speaking.

Here in Sweden, there was no better time like the present. Sten had only to make it through today without touching a drop of alcohol. He had...A bit of a habit and it wasn't drinking. It was...Too embarrasing to talk about as the silver haired teen loosened his tie a bit more.

~ Shoji had better watch his back. I know of that dog's desire to make human scientists into full- fledged alchemists with his scientific, scandalizing…methods…~ The icy - eyed teen went along with the humans, for for now it was the safest way not to blow his only well- perfected cover as the Anderson Family Conglomerate's eldest son. He though wondered how Klara had her followers fall into line back in Hungary. She was a celebrity, though her fame in this case…Wasn't due to her social status or family upbringing. She was, special in a way. That was why he thought of her, as plain yet amusing even as a future relic of love. And what a time it was going to be ; fighting off an unknown pathogen while keeping the forces of the under-world at bay single handedly. Sten brought his hands to loop behind himself casually. Resting against the chair he'd been in for what seemed like an eternity or longer, the teen looked up at the tall ceiling and dreamed of past- lived times he'd never imagined to be so; his ego wasn't the sharpest tool that the dog had at his disposal, he was aware it couldn't get the best of the teen.. In fact, an ego was nothing more than a hindrance to well- bred ice fox of today's era. He had work to do, which included finding a way to satisfy his desire of wanting to have Takahara Shoji permanently put behind bars, for good. Even if that meant convincing the whole world that he had spared them an agonizing fate at the hands of mere illusions – built into being by childish daydreams and flowery imaginings even the gods might call inane. He held back a smile as the _Wertham_ _Company's_ CEO from Austria stood up to throw in a few words of his own. The man's chin still had a swipe of icing mixed into his oversized stache. Well. Today _was_ almost up. Sten breathed a silenced sigh of relief and attempted to strain his ears over the older man's pointless conversation.

~_In the end, we don't get to decide our own fates very fairly._ ~ Sten mused over what those same fates at the wheel of time, would have for this 'Chosen's' future. He could not wait to meet this hero, ages younger and far from used to a life serving the public as Sten did every waking hour of his entire career.

/

Ok! So, have been away for not so long that I'll still count off the plot as it ticks on by:

Ceclia Crescendo Daia was reported missing? Her spectral-spider spirit and contracted ally (since Cici took up the role to remain Hecate's faithful protégé) went off the deep end as has been under the control of a certain deity of Chaos. Lilith is out of the picture, though everyone is wondering if Cecilia ever gave up on resurrecting her sibling Alicia (now a second ally to Lisa Viscado on earth) and if she is not after the chance to ruin herself in the process.

Bao Shi and the Wuhan virus (which was NOT started by Veronica Bethel Ferguson in the real world! Just for plot and continued from the Life after Death arc!) is concerned that the humans were doomed from the start, even with her heavenly protection as an added curative. Sadly, that isn't the way mortality works and Bao Shi is personally torn over having a role which both sacrifices human lives as well as preserves them for the sake of her superiors.

The new co- starring guardian foxes are based off of Pokemon. (I'm not joking, it was a middle school daay- dream that got eventually broke lose onto Fanfiction after all this time. And Digimon! 'Wizardmon Gregory?' ' Calumon or Kayumon? ' I'm not busting anyone's chops but my own here! Verra was fashioned after my fav; Umbreon in his doggy form. Espeon was Vespa from the previous arc ; The Manifesto Pages. Jolteon is Ron who rules after the thunder gods of his time. Esme is Vaporeon because of her nereid heritage. Aria is a smaller version of 'ehem, Articuno I suppose?' Cliff; Esme's protective big brother is Leafeon over the earth element. He's got Cliff in his name! Hah! Calumon as Kay's cutest form. Sylveon as you guessed it! Klara due to her cotton candy features and romance magic we shall witness much later(turns out the gods made an uh-oh and Esme is NOT Aphrodite' reincarnated vessel. Also, Agatha of Delphi is being targeted by the goddess of chaos. But, why? She's apparently not Gaia as Hecate predicted either, but there is something else about the light-haired oracle's murky past. We will see in later chapters how that plays out! Lastly, Solario or Kaien is drum roll please…Flareon! A sun- fox in his feisty get- up until the end of time. Yup! Had it coming.

Haru and Kaede are Kitsune messengers and watchdogs of Amaterasu- hime's new replacement, Amelia Grayson. Aiden is in colllege for Photography? Then what about his break up with Lisa? Seems she's gone far in her quest to stardom. He however, has been helped out by another student on the fly. Aiden's mind right now is on whether or not Raku will be relaesed (no strings attached) from his reeducation 'program' devised by the spirit orderlies. How is his ally now falling face first into the present day in an intangible form – right before the school bell's rung out? We have more to plan on here.

Shoji; back to Shinjuku's business district!

He has been one shady kitty; Takahara has stepped up in the race to create a vaccine against the 'mysterious' virus. Turns out Veronica had kept her word on the whole 'I am going to release a sickly virally infected rat into the NYC subway station and allow it to set forth in projecting on the demise of the human race' fiasco. NOW! Years later, that same rat has gone off elsewhere (magic, so don't expect it to make sense) and the infection is now off in Wuhan. (Noted; this virus we are facing today is not to be considered anything less than an experience which we should band together for as many nations not divided, though for the sake of our neighbors' and indefinite public safety. The event still will need a vaccine. This little fear of Sten's is validated by how the use of alchemy and the distribution of the unholy craft by way of mouth or text is highly FORBIDDEN. The gods have a rule that should never be broken; never reveal yourselves to humans even if you must intervene (they play vigilante to the citizens or wipe the memories of their mortal on- lookers after a crisis, but the Titans are all but aware since Aiden had almost fallen victim to this trick in New Generations arc) AND the most important rule is to NOT SHARE or use forbidden crafts for the sake of THE HUMAN POPULACE.

Verra has broken this rule in every book; from his time taking on the face of Takahara Shoji (his real spirit was corrupted and devoured by Veronica's demonic cronies. Shoji was not resurrected since it was forbidden, so Veravakumu made a pact with the dead man that he would allow the billionaire's life's work to carry on. He took up the name, face, and even status of Takahara while the businessman quietly remained forever lost…Due to this loop-hole, Isis was able at the time to cover the dog's hide. Now? Aria isn't too thrilled and has taken it upon herself to watch out for the dog's next underhanded move. Sten is now on Shoji's back and HE is very strict when it comes down to coloring inside the lines. Klara will be less than involved here, but Abeni is still desperate to save her people. If Shoji's magic cure is a way out, she may also end up on the god's most wanted list. Watch out!

Shifter imp survivor; Charl was supposed to have been turned over to the under- world court for crimes against the realms of spirit. He was pulled, plucked from his fate -by a bobble headed blonde. A child who claims now to be the Goddess Eris, she enlists him brutally to her join her unjust cause. Lao Ming was lost due to her desire for vengeance. Though, he's to return with her in the form of a four-legged pup like Verra so that she has more power than deemed necessary. Charl has his doubts, but if it means escaping death row, he's all for team Chaos.

Amelia Grayson is training in a night class on the side for promising priestesses. She's in Japan for the long run or until her powers reach fruition. She misses home dearly…Though, in a way she is better protected under her new guardian's guiding stance than by her 'AWOL cop father or her fashion model mumsy.' Anna, and Ava? Well, that's next on my list of count offs!

Anna is at a standstill in her life; Astarte or Sara Santiago with Nina have molded poor Annie into the perfect soldier. She's scarred by her tempting emotions which the nineteen-year-old is un-allowed to show on a regular basis. Truth; Sara's course is not for the faint of heart. Anna has fewer friendships than before since the Marines is no side show attraction. It is grueling and Ann is just now starting to feel the burn of her decisions. She returned to Sara who had promised to help Anna to battle her own demons. Though right now, Anna Grayson is this* close to falling between the cracks. She has the power of the Phoenix; the fire bird and guards the Chosen's Light of the Golden Dawn without being asked to. In a way, it is her fate, and she's feeling utterly miserable to the core. As if her lost teen- hood wasn't enough!

Ava Marie? Well, she's got the short end of the stick compared to majority of her other sibling's complaints!

Ava is the unofficial princess (in a while longer it will be as a queen) as well as a protector born under the name of the 'Raven Winged Race' as a child to the Snowy Barrens. This 'place' is collectively of Russia and the Norse past, of the ancient and the dystopian, so a bridge between all the snowcapped regions on Earth in the past and in myths worldwide. As well as a reminder of what might one day return to coat the Earth should it burn first to ash.

She is training under her 'crush' Christopher; who is actually a being from Reia's time. He has the extra aide of his form the Phantom wolf.

It; the wolf, was once the son of the god Loki, though Chris overpowered the wolven enemy and now its form bares its fangs in another direction when need be for Chris's crowned princess. Chris is an excellent swordsman who has taught Ava to concentrate her energies as well as to lead armies to war. Lady Reia however, Ava believes is actually still alive as AVA herself. If Ava's soul is actually that of a reborn Reia of the true Raven Winged, then she's got to watch her back in these badlands of the wild past. Ava's powers are over Ice, Shadow, and the lunar cycles all grant her the strength to fight onward. The sun or sunlight is… Eh, unfortunately not something Ava's used to since denouncing a portion of her humanity. Her new season is to winter and to the craft of the ancient crone Hel. She has grown to the age of twenty-one or two, though her ability to age is slowed due to the immortal blood now coursing directly through this future princess's veins. He hair is cut into a bob similar to Raven's while her lavender tinged locks have turned silver with her time spent in another realm. She has a fighter's spirit, though her composure is closer to a stoic queen without the need for any extra emotions. At least, not on the surface.

Anna is different. Her powers over the sun and fire are without question the exact opposite. That is why her emotional side is in jeopardy compared to her older sibling's state. Anna needs to express herself. She's human. Even Ami is falling victim to this vicious cycle. She is going to have to keep her emotions stuffed down in order to meet Amaterasu's expectations, just as the ebony child had once long ago promised the sun-goddess when the two had first met.

Aiden also is no exception. Unlike Raku's borderline personality as an Eclipse god's son, Aiden Grayson is more is parent's child than he knows. That was another reason why Roku in his worst form had trouble snuffing out the Chosen's light. It wasn't meant to be. Elements and such play a BIG role in this set of arcs. Order is designated as Elemental structure; all to keep the humans preoccupied?

And what about Slade coming back? That, will be for further chapters so stay curious! Be well during this mid- summer wait and read on as always! I had my gallbladder out in February but it was at 0% so the result? Reflux, bile in my stomach, possible Crohn's is now what my new GI is betting on. It's nothing like Crohn's at all. This only happened due to the removal of a diseased organ... I still am putting my money on Bile reflux gastritis or IBD related symptoms caused by that same 'said' bile. Still, at least I can have seasoned grilled chicken breast and skinless…ugh…Potatoes plain…..I am sick of bland and so is my stomach. It throws crying fits whenever I swap my chicken with a bland week. If it does not see tender on that menu, it literally shows it by gurgling. I'm not joking. My tummy is spoiled rotten. I am taking to another scope on the 19th so this I will say will NOT be the last chapter. Hoping everyone takes to their health this up- coming winter. I cannot wait for those untouche 'immune boosting ' recipes in the fall that I have collected for a good while during recovery. Was born in December on the 21st, winter child loves temperate weather. Summer can say farewell to our side of the globe any day now! I was born to cook paleo, _whoot_..! Be well, stay safe every one of the Fanfiction and Fiction press community. We are stronger together rather than apart during this event in our now well-documented history.


	11. Chapter 11

Teen Titans; New Generations; Chaos Arc; Part One -Chapter 10: Return of an Assassin -A Child's Last Hope.

/

Anna's journey had continued; in her time apart from her mentors and family, she'd been stuck with an elite team of operatives right now out in Istanbul for the week. It had been days; which seemed more and more like long months overseas to her everyday.

Right now, Anna really wanted to go back to Cali soon. The crew she'd been paired up with included Nina as the head of operations; Mel Carlton from Australia who was treated like a plain fool; he could go into the fray as a chameleon (practically invisible) and could infiltrate any known location on Earth. Jacklyn Rodgers from Minnesota; who had a way with machines, could make them dance across the stage with a single snap of her fingers. Andrew Nakashima from out of Honolulu; who was new to the force and took to Ann like a little brother, was an expert surfer who could command the molecules in water to turn into them into a weapon (Aisha inspired from Winx I suppose) and Danny Livingston from Wales; who was the second eldest besides Nina. on his off time, he worked on the team's weapons and tactical maneuvers. This was while the boss went off to see to a few loose ends for herself. To some degree, he was that god and even was top of the class. Danny ended up going with Nina on most of her missions. In a way, Anna was glad she'd been picked last for something for once again. This kept her from knowing she'd come back to her family as a scary apparition someday!

Nina's mission here in Istanbul tonight, was to look into a trade deal with a bio-weapons manufacturing giant. Tonight, the main group's CEO who had come to talk big business with the country's top buyers. Sort of, a private auction for the most part.

Strangely enough, it was no secret to the government in Turkey who had been on watch for only a few hours before letting the men have therir fancy gala banquet. The most recent intel groups had their eyes on this one kingpin from behind the widest curtain for example; an elusive man named Alexi Primakov. He was formerly from out of the Ukraine (as he'd left under his passport's fake I.D) (trying to see about a name here) and had been scoping around for a sale at this premier auction.

While _tonight_, Nina was going to bust the case wide open, putting Turkey's imposter sales' men to shame and saving a lot of lives hopefully in the process…. At least, if she didn't catch his body guards snooping about in order to cap the baddie for later, as well as her slender arse first. Astarte had gone amiss so that was a big setback. An earlier mission had been ripped her teacher and commander from her hands and now, Nina had only Danny to back up the tots while they prepared to set off on another trip that would have them in Amsterdam by Friday. Tonight though, Danny was her lap dog only. No one else was allowed to take the heat. Anna Grayson had the base under lock down and they were only supposed to go against Nina's orders IF the android found some serious news tonight or not. She had a backup crew, but was still itching to call it a night before something else happened…It was a gut feeling that Danny felt in his bones too as the crew perched up onto the rooftop of a building close enough to their main targets.

Nina watched from that same building away as the laughing, browsing, crooked cats of the country's underbelly all collected inside of a room fit for any sleazy kings or queens. The sky light was shatter proof and bullet proof. Only thing was, it wasn't laser proofed and Nina had dibs on the fattest cat in that room tonight. It took two to tango as they say; and Nina wasn't slow on her feet to meet her next partner on the dancefloor in a heartbeat, she had the moves for sure. Speaking of dance partners…A Sir Bryan Wells fresh from London had stopped on into the room with his hands around his neck all night. A comm untit huh? His eyes were somewhat resourceful. He had a knack for knowing when a sniper was there against his spine, or skull from afar. In order to consummate the deal tonight, he'd hired only the best to protect the greedy mogul as he blabbed on about the 'Adonis' project as if it were his own child. Nina chewed on a toothpick from her pack and wanted to spit onto this man's head already. She didn't like how confident he WASN'T. For sure, definitely fishy.

"We have to get closer." Danny motioned to Nina through her unit quietly.

"I know." Nina grunted. She had her sniper in place close enough to get an ok shot, but _not_ to land as _nearly_ a perfect K.O. Her tech was secretly granted to her as 'Takahara Shoji's _lovely_ and so _very_ generous' donation to Sara Santiago's noble cause. It was a laser arm that she could break out at any given second without it messing up her systems. Nina was still an android, and in her being alive today this was all she'd known since her creation stage.

She had aged, but that was due to Maya or Priscilla Dearheart's last remaining gift, all so that she did not have to live a life cursed by the bane of being an immortal in a human world.

For some reason, Astarte's training had really dug into her that night. Nina had taken a swig of beer before the blood had started pumping, seeing as she couldn't get wasted even if she tried. She was still not a real human woman after all that…

Nina held tightly to the trigger; her fingers laced over it in wait, dying to see what attackers that slacker down below had hired to protect his own skin and dirty assets.

"Don't go in for it just yet…They are standing up-

"Which then is the right time to send in our guys, Dan?" Nina sighed and let her fingers fall slightly from the trigger. "Are we just _**gonna'**_ let him get away with bankrupting an entire country with his dirty tricks?" she asked him in annoyance. "He's on MY most- wanted list too, Nin." Danny responded, knowing Nina's fits were worse than a bomb going off into the night sky. "You have to time things better next time, or we don't stand a rat's ass of a chance in hell-

"_Enough_ being a wuss on me, Danny-boy." Nina got back into position and snorted. "I'll get so close, that you'll wish Sara hadn't put yours truly on the back end. Capiche? I can **NOT** lose sight of-

"Shit! He's moving fast!"

The sound of a whoosh in the background had Nina's strong ears ringing off the cord. The screech of the unit's inferior audio made her pull the thing out a few inches purely on reflex. "What was that? Dan?"

"You see!? WEHAVETOMOVE! **_ACCH_**! -

"You _shouldn't_ be a sitting duck then." Nina was aroused by a purr, though not of a cat's call. Not all, no. She could hear a tap, tap, tap, of boots much heavier than her own. And a low groan, as a body was tossed about, wounded and startled…Right to the ground. She spun around. It was Danny, his arm was shot into but not by a bullet. A blade and a sharp one that had ripped a good part of him up already…Who else used a katana in this day and age?

Nina tensed, already standing up due to the shock she'd witnessed over the link. The other man's unit was in the mysterious captor's hand. His hand was gloved, clasping the unit like a vice as sparks emitted from Danny's one lifeline in that moment.

He'd shown no effort at all needed, to simply _crush_ the bit of wires and circuitry into scrap as the remnants of the device fell away, messily scattering onto the ground with a tinkle and a light clattering sound like falling shards of glass. Bells chimed on in Nina's head as the masked assailant was very close to taking Danny's own life from where she stood watching speechless. She'd known this man, fought him and lost before realizing who she'd been fighting in the first place. A monster; one far more cunning and deceitful than the red dragon Roku had ever hoped to be in another lifetime. She snarled back and instantly threw her gun to the side. It wasn't what she needed to face off against this masked killer. This man was a martial artist; a pupil to all forms of the killing art. He was a deviously and well- equipped weapons expert, a super soldier gone rogue in one too many decades, and had a vendetta against not only the JLA but was on Interpol's most wanted list...

His file was pages and pages of a narrow escape by any and every means'; loopholes, plots and schemes he'd been a great asset to in the past , or had led as valiantly as any known dictator might have,.

Meaning? He was practically untouchable, by the law or any form of government that the Earth here possessed. His haunt was anywhere the money bags of every era wandered. Just as the JLA had asked this crook for his help only a year ago, the Titans had never disbanded thanks to the mad man continuing his wild ride from across border to borderline.

Nina drew up her arm as her best weapon popped out, to aid her in the rescue of her now rather pale co-operative who lay coughing up his own blood onto the rough surface of the rooftop here.. She threw out a cry to the wind and rushed into battle; forgetting the man behind those glass panels and his other-worldly plans to dominate a starving society, all for the sake of satisfying his own inherent lust for power.

She screamed the enemy's name aloud with an ear shattering, rioting voice;

"_**DEATHSTROKE**_!" A clap of thunder hit - the drums to war sounded as the two faced off on that rooftop. While below them, the real villains made their long-term goals legendary for the first time after a long shut down of the country's economy. They wanted to reopen waterways, initiate disbanded trade deals that would give them the riches of the whole world over to pocket for later schemes. To this criminal, it was a good enough cut back and a quick buck after having put down his torch as the biggest name in Jump City California since the creation of 'lollapalooza.'

Deathstroke; A.K.A Slade Wilson, needed the time to just wander the world. Maybe, but his love of the good fight and his being a living GOD at it, made the ex-crime lord tire of simply 'sitting' by the ocean all day long. He _needed_ the action, and the exercise never hurt.

Then this job had stopped him on the street; a crew had been talking about a big gallery. Next thing he knew, he was in like flint. This, it was for him, the life none could crave but one with an appetite for getting ahead- he could gather great intel to sell on the black market as side-perk. Yes. The high life was, just for those who loved to show up not grow up. He considered himself self- sufficient. Being the US army's worst nightmare and creation did that to a man; made him wish to never forget those atrocities, to prepare for almost anything with a keen eye and a wit unlike that of a wild beast's.

It was a living and the only other one he knew by heart. If he'd written an autobiography titled; 'how to dominate your profession entirely,' it might have gotten some backlash from the Daily Planet. Too bad, crime did effectively pay up, at least to Slade he'd not had many drawbacks in a long while to complain about. It wasn't worth it; to not vote for the winning team during the biggest smack down of the century, was blasphemous to a super villain and his creed. It was just an act against him, that super villain being the only known domineering deity in his right mind (too bad, real gods **did** exist outside of human ego, especially ones so twisted as a criminal's own.)

Outside of his comeback he'd recently done so very well that in fact, that Mr. Wilson had come face to face with another inbred killer from America. Nina Santiago wasn't all bark and no bite. She was a brute that took down any target without mercy. Not the best foot soldier, certainly witty…Hum…But, _was_ she brilliant? He was about to find out as one swift hit to his metal mask was ultimately blocked.

Nina had her fierce 'android- built' punches out and ready, which Slade found rather difficult to ultimately dodge once backed into a wall, in the closest quarters she could have him.

She seemed determined to put him over the edge, quite literally. He had to test her limits another time. Slade looked to the building before him where a savvy business man was wetting his trousers, waiting for that clock to sound out his victory march. Ah, sadly… Mr. Wells had specifically wanted to meet the Ukrainian mogul in his room that night to finalize a perfect union between the men's businesses. Wells was into banking, big time. And though he hated to gamble _and_ was a bit paranoid while every eye had been on his well quaffed skull, Slade had been there to see to any sharp-shooters regardless of the man's specialized instructions. Now he'd realized, that that man had analyzed every possible outcome in the entire month alone, betting on his timing as if it were sand in an hourglass.

While looking to his unparalleled later plans, Nina had shot off with a zzap only inches past Slade's face as his one eye caught the shot -he rushed to set things back. Why had that man distracted him? Was he losing his touch again? Retirement was a pain; made a person lose sight of himself without a ton of laboring tasks to keep his hands preoccupied. Work for the wasted, he didn't want to feel old at all!

He was very close for comfort on that one shot, VERY. He peered over Nina's shoulder and watched the shadows walk and silently dance off against the stone building across from his wandering eye. The night was about to turn... The time here was coming to an end. His contract with Wells only lasted until midnight exactly. It was, time to put this mad dog to rest.

"I don't see your trainer anywhere out with you tonight." Slade noted as the clouds above had started to let down an autumn's first rainfall. (It had been months since the attack in California, and now it was just falling into October; if we didn't add that one to the list of occurrences from the late bursting of A's time bubble, well, Obon is in August so yep!) Also, Turkey didn't get much around this time, which made the skies appear damp and dreary (compared to Monaco, this was just sad.) (Sorry! Looking into the area and its climate! Will update as needed!) The short burst would seize up soon. The showers didn't seem to last the colder the season became in this country. Monaco was no better, maybe a bit brisk without a way to keep warm when need be. He needed a vacation? Well, that was showing a mid- life crisis right there. Slade could have sighed but toying with Nina's inhuman abilities was, entertaining to see. (He's an ass, we knew that.)

"I don't NEED a leash, no goddamn '**anymore**." Nina shot back and with it, another dose came buzzing by from her laser arm. He had to get that nasty toy away from the girl; Slade decided, as he dodged yet another on-coming barrage of sizzling, sonic beams.

"It's too late to see you fixed, then instead it's the right time…To put you out of your _**misery**_!" Slade was behind her with what looked like a-

She felt the electricity surge, violating her senses enough to vomit. It rushed through her inhuman veins with a few quick popping, gurgling sounds. Those cries emitted past the android's frightened and cracking lips. The hiss and stench of her flesh…It was…It SCALDED HER! She screamed out and fell into a heap with one last cry up into the air. The autumn rains pattered over, against her arms as they lay splayed by her sides. While the enemy leaned in from above with his jagged blade a mere inch from her throat, his purr sounded more a growl in warning to her now more than ever. More than ever, she had wished to have been given that immortality from her creator, Maya

"Scream all you'd like up here." He chuckled under the mask, enjoying her whimpers and grunting protests. "The thunder up here is _much_ louder heard than any of your worthless cries." He **stomped** onto her shoulder blade, just as a shot rang out from a few feet back away. It was…Danny! He was _alive_!

The evil man now released his boot and walked towards Danny, who had just recovered enough of his strength to pull the trigger.

A hit! Nina flinched by the other male's brutal warning. A warning if he didn't finish the job…In the side of the man's chest though…Not good. Because Deathstroke was…He was-

Danny was pummeled to the ground. His face; nearly crushed by the man's steely boot as his bullets missed and bit, again and again. And then, a sharp _crack_* left Nina's eyes to go completely dark. She shut down; a fail-safe mechanism that was **like** playing dead, but without the poison. She was no Juliet. Danny was certainly no Romeo…. But panic had taken her from him, just as Juliet had overreacted in that awful story…

"Getting in my way isn't wise. Would you step in front of a katana? No? Huhpmh. I didn't think so." Just as he'd said 'think so,' the man swung his blade to clear it of the excess blood that coated the sword's tip. Hearing the metal nightmare '_shwing'_ out made Nina's head ache, her jaw and everything else she still possessed.

She couldn't cry while she was in a damn comatose state! No wasn't the time to freak…She had to try to be braver than this...-

"Tell your boss that I'm not resting. And as long as this deal's going to happen, I say let it rain." A warning, a threat, Nina had recorded everything into her memory. A beacon was sent out earlier. The kids…. They'd be here once it-

"I don't think this job suits him, do you?" Slade was still trying to talk to her? WHY? Wasn't he…? Oh shit!

She couldn't break the silence. She couldn't undo Shoji's stupid setting! Damn it! Danny was!-

A sound of a ruffle and then, a scream no more as cars below had finished the job. Danny, was gone…Right, over the edge. Just as Nina had hoped Deathstroke might someday be sealed by that same timely fate as her now- fallen comrade, now. She could not cry as he **again** taunted her with his purring voice, his tone as smooth as satin and silk combined.

"You can hide for now, send help if you wish. Ah, but his fate is sealed. The deed requested of me has been done. The contract, is now complete."

The man waved farewell as the wind blew high on from above while Nina stayed bent into the concrete.

"It was a pleasure seeing you again, and so soon. I, do hope you recover long enough for us to have another duel, just you and me. I never lose.."

Did he never stop? Her heart HAD to still be pulsing from his rants. He had SUCH an EGO!

"Then don't disappoint me next time, little soldier." That pause again. A copter's blades drew suddenly close, closer…

He called back out from up on high. "Until next time." He said this as her eyes refused to open. All before finishing up with his monologue – rant, she thought that a tear might pop out unexpectedly. But nothing came past her cheek that night. Nina looked so ridiculous; like a doll, a mannequin that had been thrown away!

Slade softly shook his head at the sight of Astarte's little puppet. As if anyone would find her in time before the rain stopped. He almost, felt sorry for the android. But she wasn't really a part of tonight's contract. Still, the perks were there. His masked eyes looked to the air as Slade's bots prepared to fly off higher into the airs of Istanbul's air space. He'd made _so_ much money; as long as Wells was no miser, the deed had been then worth the trip. That just made things difficult then. If that man wanted his extra attention. By morning he'd get his pay, let the other man sleep off his hangover. Maybe he'd gloat, maybe he'd bawl. Slade wasn't a fan of debilitating conversations with any, inebriated clientele. Not this month. He had done his part without crying too much. Time, was in perfect harmony for this wicked mind tonight as the crime lord sailed away into the cloudy skies above the sleeping city.

/

The rain. The thunder. It haunted her as Nina could still see it; a play back fashion and she was the guest of honor to witness her comrade's gruesome murder…Her blood boiled. It raged as never before. As her eyes opened, the madman could do no harm to her…She'd in fact lived BECAUSE of his damned pity.

As if he knew how her systems worked. How she ticked, and it made the pink haired woman's skin crawl. She felt as if it were his hands pushing…Stopping her heart -

~You…Are…Going to ….be mine…. You **CROOK**! ~ She screamed it in her own head no more! As her own thoughts had all been…_Useless_!

Danny was dead, gone and she'd…If only she'd been more patient…. If only ...If Only…

As the sky grew black and Nina's heart had begun to pitter on against her chest. She had lived…...Every flicker of life had gone dormant from within though. Her eyes had lost that fire and she…Just wanted to lay their sobbing without a tear to shed. A human tear being shed right here would have made no real difference.

~If only…If only…. I'm sorry. I'm sorry…. Please…Fix this!~ No cry as loud as the creation of Dearheart's could mourn as loudly as Nina did just then, not for a mere human. For once in her violent life she'd felt a closeness to them, these inferior beings -she WAS just like them! With limits…as if she could die tomorrow. Deathstroke had just proven to Nina that she had an off-switch. She was the only one in her whole lonely world who could push time ahead with a single pull of the trigger. She was the only one who had heard that laugh and, it made her want his head stripped from behind that mask so she could return the favor.

/

As the night came to a close once more, Aiden's latest experience only days ago felt like a dream. He'd not seen heads or tails of the boy known as the Eclipse God's son. The demi- god child called Raku.

He was finishing up a semester and had a way to go before he'd reach his ultimate end goal. The world of photography and film had only become an interest due to two things; finding the impossible from within the settings of everyday life, and his mother's trips going along to her photo shoots. His mom, was a model by her beauty and involvement in the industry for so long. She'd even started up an interesting company brand that was dedicated to helping kids eat healthy. Courtesy of Ami's snack attack syndrome and Kori's shock. She'd just gotten away with publishing a cookbook that had even featured a few Tamaranean festival foods in the latest pages. Dick avoided this great news with a full belly. He'd known of the gastro complaints 'the pudding of sadness' had brought th ex-Titan and his team. What memories..

Aiden's mom's division had taken a shine to his boyish charm since he'd known that kid back when so well. However, his mom had tried to navigate through their deals very meticulously. Scrutinizing every fine line of print and turning down bogus contracts that would sully her working name and her son's childhood, he never hit it off and then, years later? A love for cameras and impossible shots had been born.

It had been during a minor black-out in the studio; back when the teen had first gotten the dragon off his back (part two of these new year's,) that the interest had steadily grown into a hobby on the side. He'd gotten his first retro style camcorder a month after, right during the time the shoot had been dealing with the technical difficulties from a local pawn shop. He said it gave the piece a sense of purpose. It had a new owner and a new chance to show him the world 'with a different perspective in mind.' Grampa Wayne had objected to this and had said that a better antique was out there if Aiden wanted to wait until the holidays. Though as we now know by now (all of you dedicated folks out there, reading on since arc one? *)

Aiden here wouldn't stop to wait for a bus at a bus stop before he'd book it himself to school on foot. He hated living without some control in mind.

A minor quake had been the culprit during the event. Aiden had brought his camera (a well-worn relic from his dad) as a portable extra since the camcorder was a bit big to bring or to lose at his mom's bustling workplace. It was summer break then, and Fall had passed the city by once more.

It was going to be another day of ogling the awards or even pushing the envelope to have his foot in the door. Kori's boss had once suggested Aiden in a teen magazine ad for a pair of jeans, but Starfire; as an overly protective parent to said teen, had taken that a bit too seriously -as if her boss needed to confuse the alien mother. He understood and explained again; saying the kid had potential. Aiden was fifteen then so it made sense when he was younger.

Now, he'd felt like an eyesore in that room. The lights had flickered about overhead; Aiden's mom's staff had shuffled towards the nearest generators for their 'show' not to be cancelled. Numbers and buttons were pushed down, squashed, smashed as the area couldn't get the power to work right away. Kori lit up a bolt and found Aiden; relocating him beside some of the camera crew and video editing equipment, all spread out as if he were a little kid without magic or alien powers to back him up (his were not very stable yet.) The staff naturally were missing a man to aim the shot back once the lights came on. He was waved to by the director and –

"Now I'm trying to piece together..." Aiden ran his hands through his now tamed fly – a-ways. His reddish hue had gone true blue to a rusty blonde after the end of all of Roku's rioting on Earth. But…

A buzzing, a vibration sounded from his school net book. He'd needed something bigger but being in his dorm today made sense as the eighteen-year-old gave the gadget some attention. "Uh, dad?" He opened up a vid chat and saw the man looking back. He wasn't smiling. He, had something to say by how his lips were tensing up. A straight line right over, and across county.

"You…Have to call your mother and I more often. You even missed a few-

"I know, dad..." Aiden groaned and sat up in his bed. His classes were losing their feel to him. He'd sunken into studying but for what it was worth the job as a teen model, might have done him a solid in the end.

~No! You made a big issue out of not going off to college. You paid your share, but the dorm isn't free. That's not going to happen, at least keep in touch. You are still in California. Not like you've gotten accepted to-

"I'm no Bill Gates, I know."

~No, you are not the Queen of England. ~ Aiden rolled his eyes and snorted. Dick cleared his throat to continue;

~ Why would you waste your life in. I…I guess if it makes you happy, I can't complain. ~ He gave up.

"My grades are better than Ami's I bet-

~Your big sister didn't get to choose. None of my kids really did...! ~ Dick exclaimed, though apologized briefly for shouting and started against his better judgement.

~Ehem! _But,_ you made a promise after you graduate to a 'deity of manifestation-' so he isn't the only thing to worry about supporting if you end up crying back to us for a job. You know what Grandpa would-

"Dad! Wayne is loaded! -

~_Not_ him. ~ Dick shook his head to reiterate. ~John Grayson. **My** biological father and your grandfather. If he'd seen how you're trying to take the easy way out now, you'd send him **back** UP here to yell at you. Not me! ~

~But. ~

Aiden was unable to protest as the man on the screen lifted up a finger. ~But you wanted this more than anything, so treat your dreams with a sense of damn dignity. ~ Aiden lowered his head and nodded. A solemn expression still there from the time he'd woken from his overdue nap.

"I can, but…" Aiden grit his fists and was able to speak up as clearly as he could.

"I don't know if living with Raku was part of the agreement _WHEN_ HE'S MY-

~You wanted to move on and help him, to help him even when it was impossible...I know that they warned me too. ~ Dick sighed and understood. The semester would end, but Aiden still had one last thread on his shoulder that he couldn't cut loose from the fabric of his own 'dream coat.' There was no miracle involved. It was a contract. Aiden had to live with the consequence. Raku now had him bound for a while until the ultimate return of this creature's being allowed him to move on…

~He promised me too, I lived as if a ghost were stopping me from moving away from my choices. When I came to terms with my demons, it was too late. I'd already fixed nothing by forgetting how to do what you were able to accomplish. ~

"Now I know how Aunt Rachel feels when she talks about her horrible father. You know too-

~I do. ~ Richard smiled back. ~I know that you can make lifelong decisions once you get your head in the game. It's your life, not mine. I think you'd would want to share that with him. Getting a demi-god to cooperate is pretty incredible...~ Dick chuckled while Aiden had to scratch his chin, embarrassed by the praise he'd received so late that day.

"He's just a kid. Guess I had to think like a dad myself, this time?"

~He's depending on you to change his views of humanity. If you do this though. ~ Dick's tone dropped down a few notches to that of a more serious one. His son wasn't there yet, he had a long road to walk until it all finally registered again. Aiden, had lost a part of his memory. He'd not known until there had been a single sign, but Raku had been the obvious culprit a month ago to have freed Aiden from Hecate's curse. He'd REMEMBERED now. Yet before, the goddess of triple aspects had tried to lock his pains away, to have him forget Raku had ever made that promise to him. Had Dick told Aiden of his understandable evidence, then the kid might have kept his chin up for one last semester before advancing with his dream.

Raku was going to be BACK on this Earth; and it wasn't without warning, Aiden was shaking his head in defeat over this 'rushed timing.'

Astarte had gone AWOL and Lady A…Was **livid** in her own way from within a separate cosmic void.

~Just stay safe. You'll be going home soon. That..The, virus-

"It's like we don't even get what's happening." Aiden finished. "Yeah, I'll be back home in October. A few more days left of having some well - needed privacy. was fun, but yep..We, could use some time to bond. And, yeah. I miss you guys too."

~Then call some time, don't be a stranger. I'll be here anytime you need me. Your mom is proud, Aide.~ Dick smiled back.

~You are showing that you can accept this change in a big way. ~ Dick was ok with openly praising his son, but it would all deflate soon. His squad's lunch break was almost over. Still at the office, he had to stay on the ground despite this epidemic straining the boss and stretching him so thin that he was almost completely see-through.

Boy, it, had been a long year. Now Halloween was not going to have Ami, or Ava Aiden as kids running freely from house to house. Star must have missed that as much as Dick surely did every year the kids grew older. He was almost fifty-three. It wasn't fun getting old! (Throwing in an age - estimation chart. Aiden was fourteen and fifteen (a month later, time bubble not added, in these new years' arcs. Ami was ten; so, going by two years, twelve in the new gen 'Ava' arc -then in Manifesto pages, it was only a month afterwards so the same. Aiden was seventeen in the manifesto pages. Ava would have been eighteen or nineteen (two years apart, big immortal sis.) Anna would have been the same age as her brother. Ami was in Manifesto arc, twelve going on thirteen. Now she is fourteen in this arc, Aiden and Anna are eighteen, Ava is twenty-one we'll just put her, and Kori is about the same age range as her husband. I added in the years Ava had been when it originally would have been fifty-one or two years old, she added a year off their lives! A true daemon princess for ya!)

Months had rolled on and still, still the worry of a parent and their children scattered across the globe during a growing crisis…Aiden was coming back home soon. He had to; the virus he'd not told his son was soon to become a pan…Richard took a mental breather and stopped himself quickly. He tuned back to the conversation, not before adding;

~Stay safe, that's all we want. Be happy where ever-

"Too mushy of ya', dad. ~ Aiden shook his messy mane with grin. "The school is on high alert. It's **California**! We don't take bad news with a grain of salt. Ah, the ocean -city - wide clean up? I was probably stuck doing that like they'd drafted me. One big eco-friendly family slash, country." Aiden snickered as his dad bashfully rubbed the back of his own neck. He wasn't tearing up this time. Thank goodness for that.

~Right, you had seaweed in your hair for five weeks…I remember you on the phone then too, I just , worry. Anna had to put me on mute half the time I tried to call her up. God knows how Ava…~

He stopped. Another hard topic to bring up right now…Aiden still was connected to her powers thanks to the chosen business. She held his fate as well in her hands…They were linked, psychically as Raven had put it, so each felt the other's emotions.

While Ava was busy with her otherworldly political role as a princess and as the newly appointed position of guardian to the Earthen sphere, Anna was there to catch the eldest if she did fall as her planet Earth's 'other' set of eyes and ears. Her sister's crown was too important right now for the silvery princess to toss, though to lose it from atop 'the majesty's delicate skull' would spell disaster if Ava ever chickened out while in office.

Ann didn't dislike Ava for having let herself lose a piece of her human life as an honorary Grayson. She was upset however, by how big sis Ave's energy was more of a curse to her twin brother and to Ami, who ruled over the opposing 'solar sect' by her power under the sun goddess Amaterasu of Japan.

Ava had a power that still needed some fine tuning; as well as found new powers to her role every day that seemed to multiply without her say-so. Aiden, Ami, and Anna were her polar opposites; while she reigned supreme under the lunar sign of the moon and of the winter season of ice and endless snowfall. Her realm right now was her plane alone, while her loyalty was to the Snowy Eternal Realm's Barrens as it's overseer of the region's peace and ongoing prosperity. A place middle ground between darkness and light from within the void, she had teachers there in the past as her real mother 'Reia Wulfsmund; had been the student to Grandmother Aneiu - the while wolf of the Mystic Aurora. Ava also had a feeling that she'd once been someone else…Now, it was of memories that only Reia might have had in her lifetime, and that frightened Ava to a tremendous degree. That thought worried even her human mother Starfire who pleaded that 'Ava not continue searching for her real mother if she did not wish to be found.' Ava was bound by her rites however, and if she did in fact have Reia's memories…

This had a similar affect to Richard Ainsley; Dick recalled his last conversation about the immortal prince. He'd gone looking for his real father and had found nothing but his own reckoning in the very end of it all…

(Richard Ainsley as we know is no more. Though Kori's Arianna is still with her to protect Aiden and her vessel's children from harm. Rokuro was sent off due to his involvement with Rokou being no more. The male counterpart of himself born from his father's tainting of his soul, was why the Rokuro of that time existed, but not only because Roku had given him a second title by his 'false' surname; Noburo. The last name of ' Ainsley ' was always to Richard as his mother's maiden name, while Noburo was a false identity from when Roku had taken over the role of the great overseeing elemental of the east (he was unable to keep his form for long after a fight with A banihing him from her domain and was sent to Lorelai's realm with a scattered heart and memories. She nursed him back to health in secret and his form recovered. He introduced himself to her as a false prince of lands from afar who had once had amnesia upon his great fall into ruin. So, his real form was as Raku; son to Lord Azag and he is a demi-god by origin. That being, he did have a royal parent's line to his name, fake or not. This was well before Lilith had taken her time with he once pupil. Once again, small set back on the Wattpad arc but read it under Pageturner09. You won't be disappointed! And it will put things into perspective too. Hoping to get back to it soon. Ok; so, now! Raku's goal after he'd made his way up the ladder had been to seek out the realm of Aleiah; a time deity who dwelled within the confines of the Ethereal realm without a true form to anyone's knowledge. She wasn't new or old, but she saw Raku in his form as Roku (his stolen identity) and denied him entry into the realm of the Universal Plane of Existence. As it goes; Underworld, daemon (demons have split roles in this arc,) mortal, spirit, Eternal (Immortal relics that are now a part of the sects of the Underworld (nether realms,) Eternal, and Celestial as well as the oldest being of Universal realm origin) Celestial, Ethereal, and lastly, Universal. There are others as explained by Raven and the gods in this arc. A shadow of the Mortal plane BECAUSE it was all human built by the since forgotten Manifestation ability or the Imagination of a human creator.) His intention was to take control of the cycle and to rest all of creation so that people like himself could no longer suffer a fate like the one he'd gone through as a child. Lilith fed him everything in order to have the kid a maxed out 'power source' to juice for a very, very, long time. But he got loose and started his own company that put hers' out of business. The student in this case became both the master and her 'deranged' ex. Roku's understanding of human life was more so as objects so that he could acquire more power into each era. He still wanted in the Universals' circle, so he sired children in hopes that their energy would feed him enough to be able to seek out A again and if necessary, destroy her in order to have his wish granted. His lacking empathy was due to the fact that the only people who had ever loved Raku as a child, were the ones he'd lost in no time. While Lil, Abi, Astarte, Inanna, and many of his oppressors had lived in order to aid the child in his turning. If the weak he then decides were bound to die first, then being strong meant staying alive and also taking lives in order to do so. He did not want to die though the sad truth? He was already dead in a way when he'd gone through (Wattpad) a maze trial Lady Maat and Isis had set up for the kid to lose his mortality. In a way, Immorality meant he was no longer of human sin, flesh and bone, or even close to what he had been living in an ancient Sumerian rural location in the past. The city fell and that was why Inanna just vanished. That is sort of to say that both these daemn and gods were built out of all of the chaos and the strife, the peace and the hope that is included inside this story set of many, many voices from both past, present, and another time. Hope you are enjoying this one so far folks! Like the Greeks myths, they were of human emotions, greed, envy, and also love.)

Aiden too, he'd looked for the one calling out to him and had been sent spiraling downwards –

"Dad?" Aiden pressed, and as a result Dick understood for a moment. Getting his kids to fight in a war that was unexpected as well as predetermined of them; due to his own past faults and occurrences, the enormous weight wasn't yet lifted. His futher amount of guilt had piled on top of Dick's shoulders in that single moment.

"Ok, then…I'm gonna' hang up-

~_Wait_! ~ Richard strained through the speakers with a weaker voice. He felt as helpless as Kori did trying to connect with Ava;, Anna or wasn't here to be the mother's eldest and adopted child from another world. Aiden had to know. He had to know what it was like for Raku to reach into your soul and to drink it dry. He was afraid that the recovered self of Raku from the past would not be able to cope with being left all alone in a world he'd struggled to understand without Aiden. If demons or spirits or whatever were so clingy, that explained why Ami and Anna were trapped with their powerful goddess teachers in separate parts of the world now.

~Neither matters, Raven was right..~

Raku was trying to stay here. He wouldn't be sent off; he was trying to change his fate by taking Aiden'a kindness as an invitation to live freely as he wanted.

Aiden stared back at his father who was getting ready to speak up. ~ I did say to be careful, but make sure you don't let your guard down. ~

"I…Guess, but I don't really follow. What's the-

~Just, **trust** me on this. The more you let others in, the more you'll lose a part of yourself if you don't watch your-

Aiden gawked as his father tried to end the sentence. It finally registered and Aiden went ballistic. His father was talking about that still? No way! He'd done the right thing! _No_!

"I'm _not_ abandoning him, dad!" Aiden exclaimed. That frustrating burst of energy had woken him up enough to call out. "I have to go, talk to you and mom later –

~_Aiden_! Don't you hang up on m!-

The video went black with only an icon standing in the center of Aiden's computer screen. The logo was of a smiling, nameless individual. Aiden scowled and shut the page down with a clap of his device folding in on itself.

~Dad can't forgive _anyone_; I'm here so why is he being such a jerk to poor Raku all of a sudden? He's…Been through enough already as it is...~ This thought though did pass, yet the might of the question his father had failed to end their conversation by did not.

~Is Raku still going to do the right thing? Is he incapable of causing any more harm to us? To _me_? ~

/

SO! This is it; either post cholestectomy (as I had brought up) or something far worse which will be my dodging the prescribed bleeding, ppis for life and running to the operating table if the doctor pins me to those useless pills. Oh and also? Autumn; everyone take note that covid like a virus might on any occasion, finds its home again this year unless we fight for a way to limit its expansion. Nope but here in the US, we are as they say 'screwed.' I work in retail, it's not pretty. As our characters worry more about school being out until god knows- we are pushing this ahead a bit. So far, fall in this year will look like this story's big seige or whatever. I'm spent…Back and forth, the gi being dead wrong but still keeping this guinea pig alive. At least I still have the mouth on my to talk back, huh. Well, same here. If Aiden, Anna, Ami, and the Titans now called Young Justice (my fic, my ripping apart reality as a do so please) don't discover what Eris is plotting too soon, Slade is going to just blow things out of the water ONLY if he decides to go ape on Damian and his team before the first gong sounds.

As for Cici? She's going to be lost in a fog of her own making until someone shocks her out of it. Wait and see! As for Lisa and watching her back? Raven's premonition? Dick's fears of Aiden being overwhelmed by Raku in the flesh? Read on as per my usual exclamation – chapter lucky 13 is on the rise as we speak. *


	12. Chapter 12

Teen Titans; New Generations; The Chaos Round; Part One – Chapter 11: Wings and Things Don't make the Master.

/]

Eating my bland-arse-chicken bits as I type this. On with the storyline! Back to brown rice and no hiccups this time _Huzzah_!..Thank _you_, my temperamental stomach lining! Saving the blandest potatoes for a safe day. Flare up was just post-procedure – based, maybe from also my mystery condition. I still say it's related to delayed emptying by the gastritis/inflammation of the small bowel or an obstruction! It's so hard to finish a series with that same thought morphing on you every second! What it's like to be plain and less than simply 'antsy' in this life, I'll never know the feeling. On with this arc now!

/

As the day's dusk rose and fell off towards the latest nightly hour; the streets of downtown Tokyo had become a haven for more than just those nameless, suited salary workers or white-collar tight wads. The strets were crammed together; the rest satisfied by ending up within the darkest parts of Japan's lively night scene. And as for the red-light district in today's modern era?

It was _just_ flashy, a big festival. Nope, no strings attached.

While even Kaede; the dutiful servant to her Amaterasu-Hime, had her time to roam the night streets for a few hours longer on this glowing path of store- lit signs, she'd been sent instead on a job. As of tonight, with someone to train and instruct; both of the two magical sages sent out instead of just alone, while wandering along those lonely avenues of drunken and sober faces. Beneath the many dozens of twinkling city lights; ones that only went dim at the break of dawn like crows to a grave yard shift, Kaede did not hesitate to bring protection talismans of every sort ever devised by her sect's vast unit of highly trained magical - mages.

Haru, too had tagged along for old times' sake; her furry yet intangible tail brushed up against her legs as the gothic Lolita style of spring had gotten a tad darker. This was thanks to the pandemic's presence over downtown Tokyo's nightly district. Bars not suited for minors, host clubs and a few restaurants for the strongest of stomachs.

Haru had sniffed the air a dozen times; he had to be here; she could not deny the fiend's foul odor which poured fumes down –

~Above, _Kaede! ~_ Haru's piercing gaze had sensed out that scent from the tallest drop; a building only feet from where the fox duo stood, looking straight up. Kaede flashed her sharp teeth out at the invisible snake in the alley -he was on the roof this time. Oh- ho! They had nearly taken his pride away yet!

Kaede didn't wait for a signal. She pounced while her body remained out of sigh, hidden by the lights of the city's array -as if a sheer curtain over her 'highly' outstanding performance.

Haru turned to find a way while she was still in her Lolita attire, had it not been for a crowd she'd unapologetically knocked into from around the street corner –

"What? Oi! Ittai nanidesu ka?" The man was just stunned and drunk. Haru quickly shied back away from the man as the guy spun around to speak to two of his buddies in question of the encounter. In his eyes, he was already seeing birds flying around without a care. How many times had he gone on for a bar hop in his life? Perhaps he was still a teenager. He was…sloppy enough; though he had on a suit with his tie pulled messily away from his throat- strangling his voice even less while still unwinding, she guessed after a long day of this figure's societal servitude he'd desired this more than a long rest inside his own home.

The man cleared his throat and blinked a dozen times before turning back to the (partially and verbally - delayed Haru. She'd had him as a wretched soul with a twisted, drunken face on . Whatever that feeling bouncingaround in her chest was, it was pretty ugly to look at the wacky human male from underneath so many dimmed lights all at once!

"Kanojo wa dokokarakitanodesu ka? E~tsu?"

No one knew what else to add but one other man of the drunk's party, who mindlessly jumped into the conversation as he raised a feeble palm to add in an even more slurred tone;

"Akihabara no anata, chotto sabishi? Sore wa watashitachi kara to sugiru-

"Oi! Oi!" The third was probably taking these guys back home. As he had very little alcohol in his system by how he didn't slur like his two compatriots, the kitsune Lolita still had to keep her guard up in her human- made form. Haru was annoyed; not by how long this was to stay out on a school night, they were trying to figure out why a young child (hundreds of years old by her rites as a kitsune priestess) was out in the big city of Tokyo in a get- up that screamed 'love hotel or bust.' That to her was confusing and time was slowly lost with these nosy men shoving the words 'little' and 'lost' into her livid face!..

"Kanojo o karakawanaide! Kanojo wa waka sugite koko ni i raremasen. Shojo!"

She'd tried to pass them by but the one sane figure was more police off of his rounds than she would have well liked. He frowned and reached out to take a hold of her shoulder –

"Eki made ikana –

"Hands off!" A flying kick to the stomach landed into the man's back as Kaede had already fished out her perp. Yet he'd gotten away; again, so she'd then realized that Haru was still defense and on the ground below.

"Onee- chan!" The girlish words slipped from the younger lolita dressed kit's lips as she played along. The men looked dazed, even while some weren't as drunk as their companion who was surprised on the street. A dozen other people stopped and looked on with gaping mouths widened at the scene. It was unexpected, even in the red- light district of Japan's hard core night life scene.

"Back away from the minor, or I'm going full on fox fire right in your cahones! Shoo! Scatter, vermin!"

"Eh? Zakkena! Oi Oi! What is!?-

An officer was headed over, great. Haru groaned in a low growl, realizing they'd overstayed their welcome. "Onee- chan? It's time to leave this dastardly place behind now!" Hinted the younger fox as Kaede spat more insults into the grown adult men's faces. Had she not realized that they had mistaken Haru for a lost child? The other sober man had already grabbed a cop! They HAD TO GO. NOW!

Haru ducked from another person's wresting size as she used her own lightness and agile human body to swerve around and over to where her sibling stood laughing like a cartoon- drawn villainess.

"Ahah! **Oh**! So, you hum-

_Ayy!" _Rippling by energetically enthusiast crowds of bar hoppers; the area had started to form a barrier in the midst of this back water, narrowing street section of Tokyo. It lay collectively dosed with numerous faces, mostly the party going citizens of Japan's after work hour who were in Haru's way as her frenzy only seemed to ruin the moment her sister had held to gloat at the humans, many squarely behind the two kitsune siblings and yelling out for the two to seize or (they'd likely be apprehended.)

Haru's breath became icy as her powers awoke from what felt a deep slumber, though not to a wary Kaede who'd caught wind of Haru's mindless panic attack. She pulled back and the two went sprawling onto the next wall of a separately hidden alleyway. Kaede knew this city far better than the sheltered little kit had realized. As Haru blinked up at her elder sibling, the other violet eyed fox daemoness nodded intently and took the lead. Leading she and Haru back towards the main streets of the city for now, to co-mingle with the weary crowds standing about Tokyo's many street corners was the safest option for tonight.

"What about the escaped so!-

"No more of this." Kaede turned coldly back into her human self as the gawking Haru only wanted to throw her fists at the kistune. Well, they'd been no closer to tracking down their silent perpetrator than Shoji had been when his office had been carelessly broken into. It was tech and the cat had hired the pair to do some in depth snooping around. Only thing was, he'd sent the sisters a teammate who…was part assassin herself and very hard to follow behind.

"We lost more than this mission, Haru-chi-

"**Don't** call me that so casually! **You** almost _blew_ our cover!" Haru shouted as the city's night time passerby only paid mind to the times set on their watches or 'human- invented' cell phones. She huffed and turned to cross her arms over her overdressed chest. The kit's two pulled back twin tails swished angrily about as the host's face was as grim as her outward appearance. She looked positively a PART of this unforeseen void! Back in her 'olden' time from within spirit world's Edo, there wasn't a light consequence for losing sight of a criminal. You regretted the action or didn't eat . You'd eat the worst meal in your life or go to bed hungry. Humans today however…Agh! They were so sloppy! She hated living among them for over a year now, going on about how Ami would one day liberate the non- believers as a bad joke in class. The spirit realm wasn't welcoming the kit back with open arms until Ami- chan had received her training. She was becoming the spoiled teen that her reflection had on its own emptied face every, darn day!

"I'm in charge, not you. We have to find-

A shadow from behind had Kaede prick up he ears to turn around.

"I'm not far behind, oba-chan..!"

"Call me that, one more time?" Sneered the elder kit as Haru took in a hard breath before releasing it to shout; "WE are not here to be lost in the city ! You left us! The mission was-

"And I did lead you to him, didn't I _youkai_ brats?" A dark-haired woman softly chuckled from beside the elder kit, just as Kaede had finished bracing herself against more insults. This human was… She was about twenty-six by her looks though she didn't look a day over by her height at a whopping, five foot six. Her skin was tanned and her eyes very playful as her black jeans and high laced army boots were nothing to gawk at. She wore a ton of black and a deep violet was the sheen of her eyes and hair; that shone annoying bright by a stray car's headlights in the background -possibly near causing blindness to the kitsune had the trick suceeded in doing so. She snorted back unapologetically;

"We had it covered, until you mixed up the rest."

The dark-haired woman nodded to Haru as she came up to speak right in front of Kaede's face. Confronting anyone this way should have been against the law, yet the woman was just visiting.

"Vespa, you bat- winged crone!-

"Haru. I'll do us all a favor and send Shoji her score in a flash."

"He's just a friend." The Esperion native of the dark- world of shadows smiled back. "You would be the ones to bur this time, little sho-

"Argh!"

"_**Haru**_!" Those eyes. Haru gasped and stepped back. She turned her head away and felt like a lump was trapped in her throat. This, was humiliating! Kaede was serious?

Haru backed down, her claws retracted for a more important time to fight against evil…This fox though was the reaper's own vassal now. She had the power to put Shoji in a very, very dark place if she even lifted a pinkie.

"You were sent to the underbelly to gather information on a 'techno whiz' who'd been stealing secrets. Ones that could overturn the country's decision in fighting its newest unseen threat." Haru turned to relay to this foreign, older ally and future directional - elemental of Lady Hecate's sect.

"And you were sent with these 'brats' to get us to the location, but we both know that didn't go very well." Sniffed Kaede as time for a moment stopped. As the guardian of shadow and the void's flow; as well as once being a former protégé to Chronos the god of time and strictly, the dying arts…Vespa demanded respect in ways the child of Catalina Daia might have found a tad patronizing of the daemon's title.

~Time here isn't lifelong. Mess up again, little foxes and we won't be so close to the same goals. This is much larger than our 'employer' permits-

~Your magic over time itself isn't very timely. ~ Kaede narrowed her eyes over towards Haru, who had been left outside of the elders' conversation. Outside of the unauthorized time bubble, the street's presence didn't even once rattle the old fox's two pointed ears. She snorted; by the bustle of cars or of night -goers' feet walking aimlessly out into a timeless nowhere, Vespa had given them both privacy, for what though she had to ask the other dog. Anywhere was better than this doomed plane of existence, Haru would agree to this fact. Yet, death had allowed Vespa the edge. That was terrifyingly real to this plane right here and in this moment as the two had their mentally debilitating stand-off in the streets of Tokyo.

~So don't cross us then.~ Vespa threw out at Kaede before stepping three feet back slowly. ~We have the right to abolish your goddess's dream and crush it while you struggle here. This realm is destined to lose, while we of the afterlife currently look on-

~How can you say that about your companions? Are you this disloyal to your !-

~I am only speaking, dramatically. In a sense…~ Vespa chuckled and shook her head softly. She knew she'd turned the kit's mood upside down. That stare the white fox gave earlier was _harsh_! And here the guardian of darkness was just trying to tell 'it like it was.'

~I am a dog, you? Are my prey in another time. So, foxy.~ She started. ~We have to just get along as my 'employer' wants for today. If not, I'll strip your goddess of her rights to have such impish kittens training beside a….Ah, I'd call her a vessel at this-

~Stay out of it, dog woman!~ Growled Kaede dangerously as her fur bristled up. ~Ami-Chan is NOT Amaterasu-Hime's replacement! She is a protector of the Rising sun's name. WE are her teachers. You should not interfere if you know how things work in our home-world. Nihon…Japan today is…~ Kaede seethed. ~It is very strange, yet familiar.~ She put plainly. ~We are relative to this plane. Though, YOU are not.~

Vespa cocked her head to the side, curiously . She ? Well, the fox just had to push her buttons even harder.

~Then what about your prized pupil, fox? Amelia won't be recognized so easily as a mini-goddess's pet if you act against her own wishes. Yeah…I saw everything from the rooftops.~ Sneered the violent eyed pup. Kaede's ears lowered and she felt, guilt rise in her chest. Burning their from not realizing it as soon as Haru had thrown herself into the light scuffle.

~I….Have to be stronger than these humans-

~They could have you thrown behind bars, where our rules don't apply. Would you want that, foxy?~ Shot back the violet streaked terror that was death's protégé on two legs. ~ I was a damned solider killing anything I was told to in Israel as a mercenary. I had a life as a human and only did what I could to stay out of sight. Humans, humph!~ She sneezed never at this, though at that older life that was still a valuable asset, it aided in boosting to the dog's reputation as the best of the best of her breed.

~You, are squandering here. I never lose. And if you get under my heels like that again, I'll toss you to the wolves. THEY can decide what to do with brats who love and live with those idiot humans-

~WE **PROTECT**! _WHERE_!-

Vespa allowed the bubble to burst as time sped up. Then, everything had returned; which left poor Kaede panting and out of breath.

~Think about that miko- wannabe's future.~ Vespa let the words slip out as a patter of rain had just started to hit her invisibly, wolven coat.

Her eyes were truly something under the lights of the city; they hypnotized the kit as she, just felt helpless on the-

"Onee? Oneee!"

"huh?" Kaede blinked up and knew that the dog, had flown from her eyes as quickly as a flicker from one man's lighter. It made her feel more pressured than anything so far from her bosses..From Tsukiyume or even Amaterasu…

"Onee-Chan!" Haru tugged the elder girl's arm. She was still in her lolita wear while Kaede looked to hold more of a hybridized gyaru- meets- yakuza member's gal friend. Her blonde streaks were brighter, now dully lit underneath the fluorescent city streets. She felt artificial. As if the lights above them would all eventually go out, dimming as her existence here was, fleeting.. As if this were the end of the ro-

"What is going on? We have to go back…You, look terrible! Hey!" Haru wouldn't stop her whining without a believable explanation. Gritting her fists to somehow, someway, cool off as the rain only fell harder onto the drenched city sidewalks; her hurried attitude wasn't adjusted as the fox's elder sister by her own guilt alone showed by her rigidity. Her still eyes scanned on ahead; hoping to catch the reason in plain sight –

"Kaede!"

"No!" Kaede barked back, startling her sister as the crowded streets froze over by the canine's lamenting howls. Her objectifying glare was enough to Haru, who knew that the human world was in fact turning her sister into an eventual outsider. She was no daemon. She was a spirit to be respected!

"We are going, now." Haru frowned and with a sniffle, pattered off in her black platform - creeper buckle boots. Kaede just watched until a sigh from her own lips had been stifled. It felt as if she could cry here, without being judged by Amaterasu. That she was no longer as important as her past did so dictate to the kitsune noble woman.

She would shed tears, only when there was time to weep, to lament. She lunged on forth; Haru right there with her head lowered and a manifested umbrella between them with a lolita's styled touch. Yes, Amaterasu had made it all clear. Kaede bit her lip and continued to pace beside the confused Haru- Chan.

Their freedom was the foxes' own. Yet their time here, was not so set in stone as Kaede would have very well liked.

Rain; it was spring yet later it would be to summer. A typhoon; that was all it could mean they'd be able to witness soon, coming to a country that no longer saw the unknown as gods among them always. A whirring bit of chaos that would wash away her fears for good. As Kaede kept an eye out for anything suspicious today, tomorrow's shock would soon (had she never seen it coming,) bring her something else to talk about.

/

As far as a certain category five hurricane; one that hadn't made landfall until dawn's first waking light above the horizon, Aiden's night hadn't been as restful as he'd planned. Unfortunately, he was visited not by three ghosts, though by a young boy and his outward projection who went by the name of –

"Raku…!" Aiden Grayson 'cradled' his bleeding skull in his quaking hands and walked; pacing back and forth across the room while the spectral form of the child prince of Eclipse magick simply watched.

"Why? Dad is going to pull me out of classes forever if …URGH! Why did you leave them?!"

~I wasn't allowed to stay!~ Raku tearfully blurted out.

Aiden took a great big breath in before exhaling deeply out of his worn chest. "So, you…-

~SHE MADE ME FALL!~ Just as Aiden had sworn that Ami's tantrums had been enough, the room began to spin like a top. As if inside a carnival ride not built for the faint of heart, the child in front of Aiden began to bawl. His magic had gotten lose, as well as an emotional breakdown which could spell disaster all over if Aiden DID NOT apologize!

The crying only made the walls seem to seep down and lose shape, form, as if this were a trippy film about a magical prodigy losing his mind! (Howl's Moving Castle there!)

Aiden walked by the bounce – house effects of the swamp that was Raku's Manifestation Craft working in full- reverse. If he could bring things into being , then…No!

"Oh…Shit! Uh, Ah…Raku! I'm Sorry! I'm just overly- swamped with-

He cried at least a dozen more times before the room resembled a watercolor box of sloshing paints and fluid -It was the bottom of the river , sink or swim if Aiden didn't try to coax the kid to revert back NOW!

"IMSORRY!YOUAREFINE!PLEASE!IDIDNOTWA-

~You…sniff!...Then, you hic* are, crying too…?...~ Aiden looked up above where he was on his own knees; a tear or two staining his hazel sights as Raku looked on him, down on him with his eyes…No longer so sad…

"I..I'm sorry. You have ever…every right to scream at me!" Aiden wept while he recalled what he'd allowed Astarte to do-

~I'm not mad, you share it. My fear as well..~ The boy brought his arm out and with a set of fingertips to Aiden's furrowed brow, something miraculous took hold.

~I'm going to find a way to do what is right. There is something in your world. Astarte was with us…She left and never returned. ~ He looked about ready to cry all over again, though resisted the urge well. Aiden was unable to speak, his throat ran dryer than the river nile of the past. This kid, was a true power-source of that past. He could leave you dead in the water or higher than gigh- light as a cloud!

~ You _must_ find out why! I am here on her behalf. Now, I'm going to borrow your energy to become whole for a short while.~ Aiden steeled up for what was to come. Getting zapped that quickly? Was he going to agree to being sapped like a big sap?

~ This will not harm your spirit. ~ Raku tried to console the eighteen year old as he drew closer. ~Though, yet it may-

~**A**_**aaaaaAAAGH**_! ~

Aiden fell to his side and learned that being used as a battery by an ex- royal Eternal blooded being was NOT all it was cracked up to be. He felt his skin ripple over him as if a thousand tiny needles had sent his nervous system to the bowels of another eternal sanctum- a not so very fun location from one of Ami's video games…

Raku's energy overpowered his own; he was a god's child of manifestation -a dark art and a cursed birth on his back, and now Astarte had enlisted the kid to collect Aiden before-

~I'm almost there! You must bear with the pain! It is a promise! I swear I'll be…strong!~

Raku too was showing the signs Aiden had missed, as he cracked open an eye while immobilized by the younger boy's will power.

The showing….He was becoming…..Taller?

Just as before, Raku's tangible self was fourteen or so in height (though he remained petite for the most.) His long dark hair fell by the kid's shoulders then his face, his eyes began to dull to a ruddy brown. This was the child now turned into a mortal by looks. What about his craft though?

He was not as tanned in appearance which Aiden did not understand as the spell continued to dwindle. Maybe, to not become a target for whoever had left Astarte to search for home so far off amid time and empty space? Aiden felt himself becoming heavier and heavier as he sagged into the carpet - and then!

"I'm sorry…" Raku.. He was, crying. He sounded too sincere to have wanted this…Aiden sighed as he shut his one eye again, letting his heart steady in a beat that would have seemed closer to the tone of one of Aunt Rachel's special mantras.

"Rest, it is all we can do to heal until it arrives." Aiden was too fast asleep inside his netted dreamscape, though he had heard those words as clear as the day was still bright. Raku was that light he'd see upon first opening his eyes…

"I'm sorry, please come find me in Japan…I'll see you, very soon."

/

Agatha's fears only seemed to encapsulate her as she stood before her nightmarish realm; a dream that night had awoken the priestess as she'd slept sound. Shoji had taken every precautionary measure while he'd helped the girl live her life on Earth.

That dream however had been a periodic vision; an omen of something here on he ne home plane of existence.

She gingerly shuffled on her bare feet from her bedroom to the mirror inside an attached walk in closet. She had been here not due to the shock, yet every time a fear from that month before had turned Agatha into a coward, it had become her enclosed space. A peaceful retreat, for her age here was that of thirteen (unless you counted her history from within the ancient spirit world. Then, the girl had a higher than need be 'pedigree' of that than even Alicia Daia or Catherine for that matter.)

Age didn't always make the Ancient. It did however allow them to travel from rift between rift in search of greater power or future understanding.

She, was to be the vassal or replacement of the Goddess Concordia. A Goddess of Order among the incoming Chaos that kept Agatha up at night these waking, sleepless days.

The character Charl had not come as before in the courtroom (the heroes had made sure of this before they'd disbanded awhile after.)

The jester twins or Gemini as she knew of them, were now apparently pulling heists around the cities of London, Rome, Tokyo, and even New York which was no farther from the Titans of Earth's extra tower -they had a number of locations globally, and that helped to ease the young girl's heart a bit.

"I will one day know of my true powers." The silvery haired ally sighed and slid down to sit on her knees, tired so very much that she'd not bother with returning to her large bed while she, finally could rest here in a darker place…

~I'm not giving up..~ She thought to herself and began to close her eyes softly; gently falling to the side on top of a few designer coats her mentor had set aside for their trip to Sweden in a month. She wondered if I was anything like Milan had been…Returning to a familiar place on the map was helpful. She'd let heersef be and had even learned a great chunk of the language thanks to Aggie's own history being just as similar as Italy's was in the modern era. Both cultures of Greece and Rome had been her home long ago, it was good to know that the warmth here was nothing closer to a blessing as Aggie finally found her wings and headed back into her sweetest dreams.

Of her time before the Goddess Athena had made the girl a member of the Oracles of Delphi. In a world she could never hope to return to, where a warm set of hands was reaching out…

She coughed. Was the dream so closely to resemble a desert? Why was it so…

She opened her eyes and saw what made the girl scream, scream harder than she could even muster;

A symbol was scorched into the floor around her tiny safe house. A symbol, and a warning that her enemy, knew where the future goddess currently was hiding herself away.

"N-no! No! I-I-I'm not ready! -

~You MUST! YOU _MUUST_! I WILL SHROUD OVER THE DAY WITH MY _VENGENCE_! **CONCORDIA**! YOUCANNOTRUNFROMME! _I __**WILL**__ FIND YOU_!~ The howling wraith's voice pierced through Aggie's protective barrier as the room seemed to only lose its light. She held her hands to her ears and cried back repeatedly;

"I'M NOT HERE! NONONO!GOAWAYGOAWAY! I'M NOT!PLEEASE! _**GO**_!"

"**Agatha**!" A voice called from the doorway, it called softly. As the frightened girl was revealed by one swing of the frame away to it side…Isa Rothschild looked down with a gaze only a mother could hold for their own.

"Agatha? Are you hurt? What-

"_There_!" Aggie pointed to the symbol of the monster that…h-

"It..It was right _there_!" Aggie looked and found the mark, erased. Gone, then. _Was_ it all another nightmare? A vision meant to hurt her psychically?

"I was attacked, by HER!" Agatha blathered out as Isa, suddenly looked even more troubled by the talk of spectral attackers coming to Earth from afar.

"_Why_ won't she stop it…._Ahh_…!" Aggie held her skull and squinted, painfully screwing her eyes shut with tears pouring down her cheeks. "I'm not going to be ready..." She had started to cry, to bawl even as small or sensitive children did. Though Isa saw this, and came swooping over to kneel beside the child in only her night wear and a bathrobe; from her own stash of designer items here on Earth.

"We are here to keep you safe from that entity which seeks to destroy us." She tried to help with her words, maybe a reminder in the safest of her delicate languages Agatha could listen to..

"Not us!" Aggie sniffled and whacked the Goddess's arm away quickly from reaching back out to her pupil. Aggie had been shaken, her powers nulliflied against whatever had latched onto her dreams that night.

"It I, only Me! I'm its target! The imp said so! They cannot do much harm to anyone…Only-

"Nay, my child. This **is** our fight, _together_. The Goddess Hecate declared a terrible event to unfold as of the fall season." Isa declared this while the child beside her had forgotten the duo's promise, she'd decided to take on the burden alone without even being asked why yet. wEll, now it was clear. The wraith she had called it was on the move once more. Aggie could not know about what Isa had been also told by Hecate in private. That the wraith also had a name and intention that involved their missing comrades..

"The Lady Crone Hecate is protecting your visons as well as my magic here on while we are grounded here on the Earthen Plane." Isa responded in a clearly solidified tone. "WE are the only exception against another breach – the virus from our world is of the spirit world's very gene. Of its mark. Its origin; brought here by a deceased sorceress known as Lady Veronica. She was planning to do unto this world as this character intends to with the demoness woman's unfinished work. We are the humans' silent protectors and YOU must learn to face that truth, without my help."

"I…It is my opposite. I know what that creature in the darkness wishes of me…As it calls to me, Concordia…" Sniffed the girl. She'd felt better knowing that others also wanted to protect the human realm from falling….But somehow, it made her even more worried that HER involvement had started a war to come!

"We know that the villain as the humans say, is connected to the past." Isa explained. "The humans cannot see us for what we truly are. We must learn to hide our pain, for their protection-

"What about my pain then?" Aggie shot back anxiously to her mentor. "What about what my life is worth? I lived and gave up my wrath to aid in saving the Chosen's plane! I saved Takahara's career as a result! I'm living NOT as a human! You..._You_ choose to be same here! WE are never! -

"You will see that this change is something…" Isa helped the girl up with a swift yank of her shaking frame. "That even without form, we too can co-exist as they do. The chaos on this Earth is not without limits. We too must be forever vigilant if we ever wish to return to the council with our heads held higher than their very own."

"I. Am more than a tool, I can be well here then? As, a false human among them, Isa?" Aggie peered up into the tanned deity's coffee colored eyes and gulped back her pride. "We can, still exist even then?"

"It is what you and I desire as equally as a lasting season such as this." Warmly, the maiden goddess and mother to the child of everlasting afterlives smiled down onto her young pupil and replied once more, solemnly;

"I intend to have you face tomorrow without fear, whatever that future may be. Should it bring you to realize just how truly special your art is to us all, then I will have lived my lives well to have known of your happiness. And of that happiness to be bestowed unto the lives, of many, many others, we are here to see this is done and justly so..."

/

Isa's talk had made little sense to Agatha as she laid back down on her bed and looked up at the ceiling. A plain white exterior, while the sun had yet to shade a partial amount to grey by its essential presence…. It was, warm. The sun she'd known forever….This sun was the child of its many children throughout time. In Italy, an air conditioner to the locals was only for tourist destinations for those who knew how to book. Here…The sea air swept in, just as the Southern Isles had felt long, long ago where there was no need for artificial cooling devices made of steel or plastic.

~On that day….It was also sunny out..~ Aggie recalled the day when she'd been spirited off; a blackened void where her waiting allies soon became the girl's full- time teachers. A coven under the earth…A place of contemplation and little light as she happily relieved every thought of that evening to follow….

/

~Dreams, how dreams may come and go~

~The gods of sleep, they then had it so ~

~The realm of dreams as one could imagine~

~A horrible scheme, born from a tragic soul ~

~Could never break free to terrorize~

~The waking world as before in its eyes~

~All life should be, forsaken and tragic~

~As the life led by a daemon born of dark magic~

~Of light to be fed day in and day out~

~With its belly so swollen, a great cry rung out~

~Curses; to all who live within dreams~

~For dreams are no closer a breadth away that of man's own realities~

~Those that live within a dream and dream as they might do so~

~The gods of sleep have chosen only one to carry that everlasting, golden light which shall beccon him, to carry the very souls so damned , home~

~The demon though fearless, was indeed no match for that which intertwined within shadow~

~While this demon though knew; the reflection staring back was a mirror of its own timid soul~

~For it carried good in its heart and silently wove on throughout the clouds~

~As it eclipsed both sun and moon alike; akin to the stars, for it was a child of only shadow, the concepts of what is means to remain unseen~

~As for the dream it dreamt on and dreamed? ~

As the cloudy curtain rose, the goddess only, who knew of the chosen's first lasting curse chuckled under her breadth.

~It was he; the demon with many faces, many names and…~

She bit hard into a fleshy fruit as the remnants dribbled down the goddess's pale chin. As stony as a dying arc as it was to be, the goddess moaned from her insatiable appetite.

~He was the one to steal my crown twice, and for that**….He** will grant we gorgon our rites as gods among the creatures 'earthen!'~

She swallowed the rest of her bite whole; as a crocodile to its comical representation of gluttony.

~Rest assured, Eclipse child of Azag…. You've not been rid of me yester-year, nor today! I ALWAYS thrive well when there is much chaos to spread! ~

The goddess giggled and licked her pink lips, each finger tasted divine as the juice from her fruit still tasted like the garden of sinners' past.

~Azag's magic is engrained in you…. And I shall have it -You will forsake that promise. Only to serve ME! ERIS…. GODDESS OF **DISCORD**! ~ The vixen blonde hissed in her cherub's body. Her blue eye and mesmerizing red one twinkled viciously as the cretinously sly witch planned her next move in secret.

Charl was going to be back soon. She'd not let Agatha or Concordia know of the wraith's dirty trick. Charl could change form! HE was her tormentor all along, which meant that he was the lure, the bait to bring all of her enemies closer…

~I miss a good dispute! ~ Sighed the pretty fairy as the sky above turned bright; a turn off as Eris shied away from that light. She slunk off through the sewer systems and to a hidden turn where a secret cult had once fashioned a lovely welcome for a particularly dastardly witch.

There, she'd be able to meet the creature who thrived under the fullest of moons. As the hull's latch unbound itself by the seal placed onto its surface, Eris thanked her timing alone for this other future ally's generosity.

~You know of my proposal then…Good. ~

The door shut automatically with a click* as soon as Eris had made it inside. The goddess nervously chuckled by her grave error. The witch could see through walls. What power!

~ I _do_ admit! ~ Her eyes lit up by the display. For across the floor, torches were all alit by another's presence. Their flames were of violet and a hotter blue than one's mourning gown in Ancient Egypt. However, …

"There you hath returned from your crypt, Deity of Chaos? Hath Zeus _not_ had enough of your trickery?" Leaning in on the envious cherub was another blonde with her own special hatred towards the council. She had been sold out; given a life she'd not desired. The only reason she had gone through her mother's program was to be closer to Alicia…

Yes. This was she; Cecilia Crescendo Daia , no more a working priestess under the Goddess Hecate.

Her spirit after the battle with her enemies had been tainted by that lovers' strife of another matter. That her blood born sibling Alicia would NEVER become her's. (Yes, it is taboo stuff That is why this is also rated M kids! Alice was in arc after arc until it was revealed that Slade under Roku's influence, had brought Allie back to life soo…Eh, as Raven eerily put it in these new year's arc; the spirit beings might have once had souls like our heroes' or simply… Eh, existed. Which means, ghosts or zombies? Naa! That's too primitive a plot twist! She was aiding Roku as Alice claimed 'for as long as Slade wished her to.' Sounds like she just woke up one day and was told the other side of her fateful demise. Turns out she was 'engaged' to Prince Rokuro (Richard Ainsley) because Lord Roku (Raku) was hoping to break up his once lover and real betrothed (Ariana of the Star Capital.) Yet she had pity for his condition, she still kinda crushed on him to keep Lord Roku from doing any more damage to his son's delicate psyche. Rokuro was abused because of his past and by the fact that Roku was in denial over Queen Lorelai's influence. So! Where was Cecilia during all of this mess? She was getting a daily dose of brainwashing under Lilith's influential dark craft, that's what! In the 'To the Future arc' when Cici shows up in London for her concert, she battle-dances Alicia and does not hide her affections so plainly. Even kidnapping her twin to perform while the last generation Titans watch. Good arc if you like pop music and melodrama. If you can keep up here, I commend you for staying around to read since day one, everyone on fan fic. Means a lot to this word snob here, haha! Oh, ok! So; Cici is now off her rocker BECAUSE during her change of heart when Wiz Gregory took her under his wing, Roku had tainted her eye in another previous fight so that she could only see her deepest desire; her desire to have Roku's wish granted so that Alice would finally be her's or no one else could have her… Big bad there? After she was given some relief and Richard went mental on the priestess of lunar woes, she was able to conform and return with her sibling to take on the role of the Council's dog of the underworld chasms. The witch was then given her title when she made a pact with the spirit of the Black Widow -the single maiden who did not wait to allow herself a lifelong relationship (in other words she wasn't one for settling down and would always be alone.)

Cici had chosen that path, but her heart that fateful hour had burned so much with a fire she'd repeatedly snuffed out. Even the widow in her heart was startled by the flare, that she warned Cecilia to look away from her past until all that remained was the girl and her acquired loneliness. Aaron had stolen Alicia's golden heart away (Aaron Stellanova was a double agent of sorts. He at the same time wasn't on the Titans side, though he later faced off against them and turned the other cheek. He was there with a purpose though lost and was erased by Roku's magic. It turns out in the past; he'd been there to protect Alicia's alter self as she was being targeted then by the council to complete a task that would have obliterated her. Same as Cici, only Cecilia was…Jealous of Aaron because of how he could openly 'say' that he had affections for Alice on any plane. The taboo bit had ruined her, so when Aaron had promised to reincarnate and find Allie again (Lisa Viscado!) he came back in more than one time and as not the only entity the current (Aiden Grayson) she tried to play nice but…...She still kind of was hoping Allie was still going to remember her as the now popular vocalist Ready Steady *funded generously by Aria's record label.) Then ALICE was STILL ALIVE? No, she was like Hakuro; a protective entity whose job it was to keep the darkness of Eris/Lilith/Roku/Rokou/The council/Hecate/Vespa/Astarte -all of them arses at bay. She did in previous arcs contact Lisa to warn her of danger coming…But, though now Lisa is noticing that she has a power that is controlling her every emotion without her say- so, as we will soon find out.

As for Aiden and Aaron Stellanova? Stellanova will be paired with Hakuro; who is a guardian of the Golden Light in another rift (apart from Aiden's 'the kid Horus' manifested himself only in a crisis, so he's been freed from his slumber in his adult form now to help Aiden out (not to confuse him with his chibi form from earlier arcs.) So; Aiden is still regretting Lisa dumping him for her career (you go, pop star rebellious!) He still wonders if she's worried about another entity controlling her fate as Aiden, is finding he cannot be rid of his promises so easily. Even inside a college dorm? WE are about to get into it now!

Her thrown was a wiry collection of pipes and bones to the sewage system, unkindly placed in a display that made the ex- ally appear as if she were seated on a seat made of metal and flesh free specimens who'd met their demise much earlier than when she'd come to Earth's forsaken plane. Gaping at the scene as the quizzical look of this wary witch; noticibly the witch in black's stance was quite calm, this had Eris a tad taken aback from devising her own plans yet…However!

She wondered just how wise the crone Hecate's exiled, run-away protégé had become without a proper mentor. Wild witches now were not only powerful, yet they were also highly a danger to their very nations, their once- home sweet homes and to their distinctive family lines. It did nothing to satisfy, for Eris was one of those malignant creatures the gods had exploited long ago. She in a strange way, understood what the Crescendo's cult leader had been going through. Jealousy had left a bad taste in her mouth as a result; Cici was soon to discover that running away from the truth, burned you deeply even after that truth had sunken in. She'd gone mad and was going to have her way this time, without Catalina or Hecate to stop her.

Eris knew this first hand as the daughter to a powerful Olympian God. The almighty Zeus had cast her down to the pits of Hades where only the war god Ares had shown any sympathy. This was after the Chaotic maiden's fall from her papa' s graces, of course. Aphrodite however, had sired a child it was believed. That or the mother was she herself to the lovely Harmonia. Concordia was just a pet name, a mockery of the goddess in which Eris had an eye out for while trapped within this realm of the decaying mortal-bound.

She gulped and lowered her eyes and head to show her respect. Even going as far as a simple bow to show that her respect for the widow's craft was in fact deep as the Aegean seas. "Our paths do cross; witch of Chaos's lasting reign." Smiling back; as if a viper would be tossed Eris's way while she stood gawking, the other goddess merely chimed in as if this child were someone she had known long before the coming battle.

"Ah, yes! Your highness…Doth thou cometh as Daia or…-

~Never spake, nay ye shan't of that title. Not to I, Wraith of discordance.~ Cici darkly responded as her tone deepened greatly just then. Her eyes glowing an eerie golden as a cat to its prey from within the shadows.

"Apologies, highness. What is it that they call ye? As if the Goddess hath you wrists bound from striking down one of their own!" The cherub blonde scoffed and watched the other girl be ridiculed by her own guilt and confusion.

"You come to this witch with a promise. Why would I aid in a ploy so foul and yet, poorly built arou d your crumbling wisdom?"

"Humph. I too have a series of strategies to erect whilst trapped within this hindrance you call a plane!" Barked the blue and red eyed deity. "I am stronger here with my powers only becoming further enveloped in another's role. You see, highness…A boy _Chosen_ has been awakened by a Demi-God. A child prodigy hath risen to face his makers here and I intend to make that creature pay for all he hath done to you and myself, oh Lady Crescent moon…Would you then listen to this faith's very thoughts?"

She pushed out her pink lips innocently and pleaded to the darkly clad sorceress. Young Cecilia right now; Eris was aware by how the blue lights flickered with no end in sight all around them, could open gateways with all of the tainted energy she had at her disposal. She was becoming a recluse. Running off to become another Hecate- had she not _seen_ this coming?

~I must see to her pact, as in all of what I intend to unveil should depend on THAT Hmm…If only...~ Hecate could have done no better as Eris took in a breath with one relentless puff. * She decided to roll her die valiantly, while looking over the risk of course of being painfully scorched to death by this wild beast of an exiled princess. If her plans decided to swim upstream for a better catch than she had….

~Oh' dear…Eris, my longing…._Why_ is this _**soo**_ much work in one go?~ Her child like self was only in appearance as the blonde European daughter she'd stolen the very soul of. Right from under that family's bunch of upturned snouts. Right now, she had to look the pleading peon before this almighty sorceress and lunar coven's very demi-god. Cecilia turned her eyes downward. She was, curious. As if anyone could strike up a bargain; let alone a fallen entity of ancient Greek origins unlike her Byzantine bloodline.

~You are here to seek out my help. As to you, I always have hatred stored enough up to recall. Him." She changed her tone to that of the lost princess. Inwardly, Eris rejoiced. Yes! She'd laid down her concerns long enough to stir something from within this witch's memory…Now? She had her lure steady and began to tug;

"Then what say you, false princess, to a trial for the damned dragon- son? The elder Azag never questioned his loyalty then. Why should we make it easy for those aiming to convert that parasite, while you and I suffer for having been wise? I was a bride to Ares himself, Mistress Crescendo." She replied and licked her lips again;

"We have need to see him punished. Maybe even tormented; as he's left scars unto all of those hearts he's dropped into the abyss of his very soul you know…"

"I do, and I always knew his return would mean my sister's demise, as my own meant only something to she the strix at that time ago…" Now Cici looked nervous as her throne illusion waivered with the child's magic craft.

"I know how to do it!" Sang Eris as she skipped in place, her eyes soft as buttery clouds above.

"I know how to make him pay, and to how to save your sibling Alicia from the curse she bears. From pure damnation ,we shall use my arts to bring about a change to the council's eyes."

Cici gasped at the other twin's very mention. Her heart pattered through her dresses as she felt her face become warm as a winter's hearth in the darkness.

"How?" she begged the other witch. "When can this …How can you do such a thing in fact when the faction has grown so corrupted by their own ideals?" she asked.

"Simple." As Eris grew closer to the false throne of this itty bitty witchling, she smiled with a crooked grin upon her cheeks. She was more than willing to share in detail. It was no secret after all..

"As I do recall from the scout I sent outside, he told me.." The witch whispered into Cecilia's good ear as the girl put her hands to her lips, her shock imminent.

"The gods gave mere children their gifts. They intend to do as the demons. To grow stronger and with a presence. I intend to make the humans see us before they have this rite at all. This apple I hold~!" Eris manifested the golden gem from a pocket within her world of chaotic story lines.

"This apple will topple the Earthen divide. It will also DESTROY the Chosen's cycle of birth ..We, just have to give it to the second power source-

"How?" Cici leaned away as the wave hit her. That immense magical energy was fear at the very least. It kept her meek, silent, as Eris continued to weave away her plans in secret.

"Simple! Your sister lies within the vessel known as Lisa, I assume?-

"None but we of the spirit realms an the Heroes of Earth know this…" Cici pointed out defensively. "I won't let you see her without my being present , I'm afraid."

"My dear!" Eris cooed as if she were older inside and out, not her body however. Her brain was still intact. Thank the heavens or hin on that one!

"I would never think of it. You and I…are partners, If you allow me to see to the capture of that dragon boy-

"You?" Scoffed Cici as some confidence had returned in her new tone. "I can handle a little child." She assured the cherub with a smirk. "Is he yea tall? About this size?" She chuckled, not caring if the goddess of chaos didn't find any of her joking amusing at all.

"He has gotten weaker. Yet by the time he has the energy from the current chosen, he'll be a force we cannot face without another god's aid."

"Then you must have not come here alone." The dark sorceress raised a brow and wondered.

"That is correct, highness." Eris grinned and stepped away slowly from her ally's presence.

"My dear brother is waiting for us both to give him the call; that is…The god of a good night's slumber." Eris replied before waving her arm upwards. As Cici had only guessed firsthand, there stood a rather peculiar figure in the darkness. He was neither bat nor man by the wings he possessed. A creature of sleep, then maybe…!

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Can anyone guess what figure has bat wings and who's symbolism is sleep and the night? Anyone? Let's just say that Eris didn't come up empty handed in her search for the perfect crew. As far as Aiden and Raku goes, they are connected though the heart (they made a pact that was just made official so Raku could become corporeal while he searches for a way to save Astarte and the Eternal divide.) Where did Charl run off to? You'll have to read on in the next chapter – I'm just getting warmed up! Stay curious!


	13. Chapter 13

Teen Titans; Chaos Round Arc; Part One -Chapter 13: Corporeal at Last -Ring the Gong! Take-over Time at Two for Afternoon Tea.

/

As the month's atmosphere _slowly_ had changed its tune, the days of summer had come and gone at long last. In a few weeks, pumpkins a' plenty would be the topic of the day in every city worldwide. It was not Halloween until the third week arrived; more than a few days away, but Ami would be going to visit her family at the terminal to greet them this week instead. Her mom and dad had taken off and had even taken the T-Jet (travel by air was restricted due to the virus's presence) to come to Tokyo after everything had been squared away with…

Amelia took in a large inhale before letting it go.

She dragged her feet and flung herself towards the nearest train. It was going to be a quick save for the fifteen-year-old wonder child. Her high pony tail waved around behind her wildly. She had felt that chill of autumn coming. Even Kaede had started to prep around the dinner table a little differently compared to the family's usual menu. In Japan, eating with the seasons was different than in the states. Ami had learned about produce you'd not find in your local mini mart outside of San Francisco. You had to go right to the source for the real deal.

Anna was still hulled up in Wales this time around. Somehow, Ami had not tried to make any close friendships at school with her family being the closest thing she had to a circle online. Jackie had gone off to study in a big bad program for the 'next generations' astronauts.' She had to train and was still not here to visit Ami in Japan. Ami never truly had stayed long enough she believed to be called a normal citizen. Amelia's group of miko-in-training from Amaterasu's temple night school had shut the girl out from receiving any of their good graces. After their ringleader had bruised the ebony haired child's ego, Ami had tried to stick to her homework more, and socialized less and less on her days off.

Kaede and Haru were only able to watch from afar as Haru sat on all fours in her invisible fox form; the girl below had an opportunity to see her family today, which might make her a target to some wizarding bunch... This was all that Haru could do - while Kaede went on a mission of her own a few miles away from the city limits.

She had to scope out a runaway spirit who'd caught the elder twin's attention no sooner than their night out prowling around the red-light district.

There was a big screen billboard looming overhead while others simply went to cross the street; it had an idol on it, a very familiar face. Ah, Aria's grooming had made Lisa go solo; she had tickets going on sale- but with the virus out there since April, (My story is not keeping tabs purposely) she'd had to resort to online sessions for the time being. That face might have scarred poor Aiden if he'd been there to see it today.

Haru huffed and scratched her ear with her hind leg. As Ami skipped ahead to enter through the line's closing metallic doors, the fox's ears picked up a sound. Moving…Late!...

She vanished too soon as Haru soon swept forth; her eyes on the doors as she walked through them, always magically and not to save her strength. She was too slow today. Something was breaking the kitsune's usual concentration.

"Hey! …This, confound it! Argh …!"

The crowded space was squashing her! Tail and all; these fox features were only visible to Ami or magically inclined individuals. However, you could never keep track of the worst of that group.

Hereditary witches. Or even empaths. Haru breathed out a heavy, exasperated sigh. Wow! THAT was a close call! Haru waded by so many other humans to find her nerve-wracked charge cowering in a corner possibly.

"Ami-Chan!" Haru shuffled over towards the young miko. Ami noticed right away; Haru had in fact stayed in her school girl's guise in broad daylight. She had worn today a bit of red; a multi colored pleated skirt, a brown sweater layered on top of a white button down top and matching red wool jacket with a gingko leaf hairclip as well to add to the head of hair she'd let grow. Also, some brown Mary Jane creeper shoes with black thigh-high socks; which were festive any time of the year completed her expression of a 'true blue mock prep - school style outfit. The completed the set design that was Amelia's own choice for the cool temperatures yet to arrive in Tokyo.

Ami patted the excited Haru on the head and smiled down to the petit kit warmly. "Come on, we can find you a seat if you don't want stand around."

"You won't be able to, look!" It was very impossible as the kit had spoken true; Ami gawked and the comedic scene might have reminded her of one of her translated comic books back home.

Anxiously, Haru shook her light-haired scalp to and fro. She frowned up to Ami and added with a soft whine, "It is packed as a can of bonito on this train car!"

"We have to treat it like a mosh pit." Ami recalled with a confident voice. "Mimi from my study class, said so I think."

"You have another, school friend then?" Haru moped and narrowed her eyes at the other teen.

"We just study occasionally, Miss. Jealous foxy-

"Then this mosh you speak of?" Haru asked; diverting the topic away from Ami's school allies who she had never met in person...

Ami turned to Haru and spoke in a haunting voice; ~ That…is…It is the 'only way you'll get by! Mwahaha…!~

Haru blinked unsurely and cocked her head to the side by the joke.. Ami dropped her gaze and sighed in defeat. "You can't do anything if you don't know how to work it. Oh..Haru …"

"Mosh? Is that a technique used by humans who are trapped in small and enclosed spaces?" Haru asked the fourteen-year-old.

"No, it's a 'psycho' romp you get to participate in at majorly crowded rock festivals." Ami thought about how she'd worded that to Haru. As long as the fox got the picture. She would ask her dad later who had brought that up, it may have been someone else. Her memory was a bit fuzzy on the details. She'd thought it was in class, but maybe it had been an old topic from back at the dinner table…Aiden had never gotten to join a band. He was pretty bummed about that for years. Maybe in college he'd decide to strike a new chord on his down time if his grades ever did improve.

"Rocks!? _OH_ my…!" Haru exclaimed in disbelief. "Why do boulders need to 'romp' at all?! -

"_Another_ one!" Right as Haru had tried to shield the youngest Grayson, an elbow; then an entire woman's arm, came flying smack dab into the fox's back. "_**Owwww**_!"

Haru felt it for fourteen extra seconds before Ami had to cool the kitsune's jets with a big hug. Still, as the train rode on through the city the fox felt awful the entire way to Tokyo's first International Airport.

Yumi had warned Amelia of the crowded subway's railway lines in Tokyo. She had to take a separate one last time due to the harassment cases reported after dark by dozens of women. The whole thing was extremely upsetting for Kaede to hear, but Haru had taken the subject quite literally too far. As soon as the two had reached their stop, Haru's jaw had burned from all of the growls she'd held on to.

"We are …Freed from that jarring, metal death trap!" Haru rejoiced as the ground beneath them was so wonderful to the fox, she would have kissed the pavement as a big thanks in turn!

"You…Have never gone on a subway before, Haru-nii?" Ami turned to her ally and gave the fox a funny look.

"I. Avoid it due to the rumors my sister has spoken of. She too never allows herself to be seen by so many. It is how we work, in secret-

"Blah, blah, blah! Let's hurry before mom and dad get lost in the terminal. Mom is awful with visiting new places." Ami chuckled though Haru did not join in on the joke. She was being laughed at? Or was it more…Oh! The youth these days were _very_ confusing to her!

"Eh? You don't say…Yet, Ami-chan Wait up!" The sky was of the day's mid-morning hourly shade; of widest blues and of something else.

~_**GREETINGFROMTHEFIFTHDIMENSIONALHOUSE**_! _OHAYOO_!~

A pretty blonde's face was smooshed up against another large flashing screen perched high above the city streets. The pedestrians on the street at first weren't exactly held hostage. Not yet, as Ami felt nauseated by that obnoxious tone. Why… this little girl had unpacked with her a big bag of tricks as the screen was alive, then another- and five more!.. Her eyes were of two colors like a soft amd fuwa-fuwa white cat – No mane coons here… Her aura however, was questionable. She had a figure beside her who resembled a form similar to Verra's. She also was drinking tea it looked like from a flying….tea..pot?...

Haru's fur bristled up. Kaede was linked to her…Then, this was!

~_My __**MYY**__! WHAT A LOVELY BUNCH OF_..._ANTS_! _HEHEHEHEE! __**OH**__! EHEM… __Where__ are my manners!_!~ The bobble headed brat cleared her throat. Her white dress was for the wrong season. White, though she was anything but built of perfection personified. The mysterious terrorist turned to her captive audience with a sly grin on her doll faced lips.

~ _I am going to be here for a while with my ENTIRE family as of this very instant! Doesn't that sound DIVINE? IT SHOULD! It is time to bow down now, little humans!~_ Ami gasped and fell into line no better than the humans who didn't use magic here were. She couldn't move! AS if latched to the ground and unable to fight this trance off!

Haru panicked. She tried to tug the child away from the lit-up display. She was ok…Then what was Ami being held against her will for? That was it…The screens! Hypnotism? No! She had to break Ami from…. This wasn't right!

~ _YOUR QUEEN FOREVER SHALL SHE REIGN…As the Godless one! Oh, YOUR ERIS! HAS! AWOKEN! YAAY!~ _A dark vortex swallowed the light of the day, encasing everything inside an eerie bubble of thickened miasma.

~_And, any who try to book it will have my beloved Brother to answer to. Ohhh, Big brother, HYPNOOS!~ _The girl batted her eyes to the side as if something were by her right…Someone….

~_Darkness, cast across the vision of those awakened by her power! ~ _Haru ducked as a man with wings on his head in the form of a bat's swooped in over the pair. He looked like dusk and the stars intertwined; a real sand man of those golden days…No true form but a cloud of smoke.

Haru growled and realized that **everyone** was under this akuma's spell. He dove overhead and breathed out what looked like swirling miasma from his lips. Haru had to run, with Ami! NOW. She morphed right before the warlock's eyes and into something that even Kaede and Yumi could sense with their links intact.

~I…WILL! I WILL SAVE AMI- CHAN!~ Her tails multiplied into nine total wispy things; lit by her light blue fire, the fox had graduated. Her burning gaze lit up the city's central hub. A beacon as Ami nearly fainted from the extra power, she'd had taken from her.

~Haaru…." Ami wobbled about before falling into a heap. The nine tailed ally gawked, then turned back to the lord of midnight dreams and discordant visions. With a heavy snarl she'd met no match as perfect as this clown standing in her path.

~You shall **PAY** for upsetting the delicate balance, demonic creature! ~ Echoed out the power-hungry youkai (wrong term and possibly misspelled, am aware!) ~YOU _CANNOT_ WIN! _Now_… _**BEGONE**_! ~

/

Dick looked down at his watch. It was well past noon already. Ami wasn't there at the meet up location.

Where then was she?

"Oh! I fear for her in a city this large, Richard!" Kori was busy busting her phone with every call to the local stations up on her recent' list a mile long!

"She **cannot** be this late. She is still only a 'minor!" Kori sighed and tried her cell after the last dozen lost and found reports had been posted through. "It must have been her train. Oh! I'll try calling Yumi again one more-

"You don't know?" A face showed up from behind that had Richard pull out his extra –

"Hey! HEY! It's me! Jeez! Ami is with Haru! –

"Kaede?" Richard felt that they lost track of time, but he could have sworn that this elder fox sibling didn't…Go to high school..

"Urgh! I was late for practice…The brats at my friend's dojo needed another sub. So, look…Ah…"

"WHERE IS AMI! -

"Kori! _Shh_! I know, I'm freaking out too…" Dick turned away from his anxious counterpart and then back to Kaede with a groan. "We had a long flight over. Cy didn't think the jet could get by with these air restrictions in place due to the pan-

"We can't talk here-

"What? Wait!" Kaede dragged Kori and Richard by their wrists and tried to make the conversation completely private. "You two have to come to the city with me. Ami's with Haru, but I could sense something wasn't right…-

"What? What is happening right now to my bumgorf, Kaede? You! -

"_**Stop**_!..." Kaede threw up a spell and zipped Star's lips tightly shut.

"Your wife is under the influence of whatever has this city in its clutches." Kaede turned to Richard as he then saw the fox's manner swap itself with another.

"Kori?" Dick raised a brow. "How? We just got to-

"More than likely, it is the same foul stench of the one to have come through a gap in the area's time-space channels. You are more than likely to find Ami and Haru where this chaotic wave is hitting hardest; in-

"Dead in the center of the city…We **have** to get there! Kaede? Why weren't you with her?" Richard wondered as the fox gal forced a glare his way. "That might be why." She stared not at him, though at a screen which looked to be under someone's thumb by…A hacker!?

_~IT IS TWO O'CLOCK. ALL OF THOSE LOOKING TO COLLECT THEIR LUGGAGE SHOULD DO SO NOW…...OR JUST DROP EVERYTHING AND WORSHIP __MEE__!~_

Dick turned to the intercom; Kaede jumped in front of him to block the 'off duty cop' from 'seeing' who they were up against. She'd made one minor error however;

Kori was hit with a spell again – not by the fox which made her pass out. Dick turned to Kaede and realized…

~We, are against the new threat here too, it seems. ~ The eldest fox sister brought out her blades and waited for the group's next attacker to catch her in the act. Dick pulled out his unit and tried to send a signal to the watch tower. "Pick up. Pick..up.."

"Aha! -

_~AHH! SO? A BIG BAD WOLF IS PROTESTING OUR TAKEOVER?~ _The chipper, high-pitched voice over the intercom laughed aloud through the many terminal speakers. People all throughout the building heard a screech and fell over crying out at the loud mechanical grating tone in their ears, they could not run nor cry any louder.

~_OOOOHHHKAY! LOYAL SUBJECTS?! __**BURY**__ ANY AND __ALL OF THE REMAINING__ NON-BELIEVERS FOR YOUR NEW __**RULER**__! _**MWAHAHAHAAA**_! GO! DESTROY! SEEK THEM AALL OUT!~_

Dick threw up his staff as soon as the kitsune had seen that fire return to the off-duty cop's eyes. She opened a pocket and his tool was back; an old relic from the past.

A sound echoed from every inch of the building. It grew; a sound unlike a woeful moan, yet born of many hidden in the dreary dark as a dozen lights all flickered violently on and off from above. Richard would have loved to have had Kori wave her bolts around, but she had been given some down time unexpectedly. The snoring woman under his arm was a big understatement. She wasn't waking up to fight at any given time! That spell had been legit!

"What's that…" Richard's question was answered; Kaede's eyes grew wide as the moaning, groaning voices turned out to be the hypnotized masses of those flying or coming home from various trips. It was just like double tap!

"RUN!"

Kori's hair was messier when she'd not gotten to prune it in so long since the shut down of her favorite salon from the virus; her length was getting longer and Dick had to avoid the tangled mane, as the fox and he ran for their lives inside the spooked-out airport!

"HALLOWEEN IS TWO MONTHS AWAY! This could almost be comical..Huff!..*…If!-

"Shut up about that now and run away faster! _NOW_! Your kid is in **danger**! Haru is fighting and she used a lot of energy thanks to Ami…. I couldn't get there in time even if I wanted! My power is being drained by the intruder's force-

"_**HAHH**_!" The three fell, unexpectedly again through the floor towards the parking garage. Kori was safe, but Kaede was knocked out cold by a falling bunch of concrete.

"Ah! I'm coming! Hang on!" Dick grabbed at the stone as he forced himself to fly into the falling debris while Kori's body was away from the crazy spillage.

"Gotcha!-

"HUH!?" Richard realized that they'd been had. This…. wasn't Kaede! It wasn't Verra either?! The figure looked like Vee but it was ghastlier in animal form than a copy of the cute mascot that was Verra's shadow self. The being evilly grinned back before lashing out. Richard didn't have a second left to dodge. It swiped and sent him flying into the hard ground of the lot.

The winged thing had not thought that its' plan could have failed, but he'd done it! Eris was going to have puppies AND kittens once she'd gotten a whiff of all that power radiating from these miserable, three stooges that pup had collected. Kaede's real body had been taken hostage during the fall. She was out cold next to Kori. The doggy demonic stood over the cop's body as he was unable to remain conscious for long. Darkly, the demon towering over him reverted to his bat-man made form from the previous arc with Manifesto. He needed more strength here. Flying three bodies to his queen's haunt would be tough, though never impossible. With a devil's chilling laugh the impish, inbred being grinned at his catch of the day.

~TRICK OR TREAT… Hehe! You; this time**… **_**LOSE! **__So long to your world,__** Ex-Chosen!**__! It was nice knowing ya…AAHAHAAAAAA! ~ As fun as it was to cause a calamity in the big city, the under- realm had to have already called for an attack on Eris's plans. Charl reverted to his highest form and grabbed each body with care before flying off. ~They won't be around long to see what becomes of their beloved children, I'll be sure to thank each and every one of those brats personally, myself! ~_

/

Aiden knew that he'd been beating himself up all week when his mom and dad had come out to tell the blonde about their early trip to Japan – He'd not even been invited, but the semester would be on hold until the spring. He'd be going back to his parent's place for a bit while Anna finished up with whatever she had going with Sara Santiago's mission in the middle east.

Or was Turkey 'not in the middle' of anything? He shook his head and continued to walk towards the buses that would lead him home to the city he'd been born to.

He sat by the only available window seat near the back but had preferred it this way. Raku had not come back to haunt him; his dad was wrong. The kid had changed for the better.

~Of course, he worries way too much - he's a cop! They are PTSD positive all over the place..~ The eighteen year old sighed and leaned his cheek into his palm, the ride smooth enough down all those city streets so far. He'd packed his computer away with a dozen notebooks, textbook pdf after pdf stored onto his laptop's external memory. He barely had time to play the number one mmorpg on campus 'Knight's Rampage' which sounded kid of cliché as Ami might then have put-

"This your stop, Grayson?" A familiar face on the shuttle bus had Aiden awoken from his daydreams. He lifted his gaze towards the other teen right in front of him.

"Oh, hey Allison. Yeah, I'm taking the bus back. No prob. See you in April."

She let him go by with his two to three heavy bags in tow. If only he'd gotten himself a damn motorcycle or something. The local bus fees were drinking dry to the poor house at this rate!

"See you guys on the flip, bye!"

Just as he'd waved good bye to most of his fellow college students, the heroic 'Chosen' finally had enough time to stand and sigh out. He was done! Finally! Rest and study, both were inseparable, though so very, very far from one another. He had a project due and it would take months to complete. Thankfully, Grandpa Wayne by Thanksgiving …Oh, right…The virus. Aiden huffed.

His project was 't document something of great importance that cannot be captured by the naked eye alone' What was that even? A riddle? Would he be sent to take remedial classes for life for something that farfetched he'd been told to complete by December? Really?

"Mr. Fletcher is no catcher. I can pitch a better term paper if I had his position, I swear..._Ugh_!"

He walked up a sloping turn as the path lead him all through San Diego as if he'd just gotten off a bus to Topeka. He knew the area pretty well though. The teen's high school was a few blocks for one; the grocery where his parents had frequented before the shut down was a mile thattaways -and the game stop depot was….Oh, wait!

"Why's it so ….." It was, it was quieter than he'd expected of the city to seem at all!

The streets had busy passerby of asian, hispanic, and african american and caucasian backgrounds wearing what looked to be, masks…For their mouths and noses, not to cover their eyes. He however, had not been told about this and immediately turned to ask a fellow shop owner as he saw them standing outside with their cigarette, if they knew what had happened while Aiden had been fully unaware of a dozen missed news' stories. The man looked at him and then pointed to his own face.

"Mask, you have to wear them now. The governor is New York is also enforcing this new mandate. Can't buy a thing if you don't have one on inside. Here!" He shoved a cloth mask that was sealed inside a plastic slip cover to Aiden who, was actually grateful for the gift yet totally out of place by what had happened.

"You have luggage with you?" The man asked and turned to angle towards Aiden's many items he'd taken to go home with him. "College ended because of the virus." Aiden replied. "Do, you want me to pay you fo-

"Nope, you touched it so I can't take it back. Not that it matters. The people who make those flimsy things are worse off than you or me right now." He blew out a puff of his cigarette before ending the session as he tossed the butt to the ground and gave it a swift twist and a light stomp. *

"You keep that and stay safe from now on-

"How long are we going to be watching out for this virus? Do you know? I've been at my classes so I don't know much of…Are we still-

"Watch the tv, kid." The man waved him off as he sighed and scratched the back of his neck anxiously.

"I'm over my time, gotta go inside or the Missus'll say I'm giving away everything we own, haha.."

"I can pay-

"Nope! Just go to wherever you gotta go now, kid." The man told the blonde teen who still refused to budge.

"My dad's a cop but I wanted to know why no one's on the street."

"Did you not check the news on your phone? Oy…Then listen." The man turned back to Aiden with a whisper in his voice. "We aren't facin' a normal flu. This thing is epic! Maybe back in the eighteen hundred they had somethin' similar, but now we are dealing with what they think in Washington is actually a PANDEMIC."

"But.." Aiden could not believe it, a…A big kahuna!? THAT DEADLY? WHY were his mom and dad in Japan then? Why was Anna in freaking TURKEY?

"Then where is 494 Santa Carlo?" Aiden asked fearfully. "It's where our house is-

"That neighborhood is where a cop's family might be, huh. Well; you can take another bus, or you can go by subway if you know the way. Are you sure that you know where you are, kid?"

Aiden wondered about that too. His whole body felt off in this environment. As if he didn't want to be here right now, not with a scary deadly virus running amuck!

"Y'yeah…Still a bit shaken up by the news. Sorry…!" He waved quickly back to the older man and plucked up his belongings from the street. "I'm not going to let it get me down! Don't worry bout' it! Thanks again!" Hurrying towards the bus stop, Aiden didn't stop his feet; even with all of his baggage the real reason for dragging him down, as he assured himself that home was where the heart still resided from way back during his childhood.

He was greeted by the door man who opened the d-

"Got a mask? Oh! The Grayson kid is back home from campus, this early?"

Gus was an interesting comedian who always made the 'pents' as Ava used to call them, feel like a second getaway destination. They had this one and a smaller suburban space that was only there in case of a full on armageddon. The city was crowded and also a better spot o Kori and Dick to commute to their jobs. They had kept the two spaces available for one; so Aiden and the kids could rest easy and relax on the way to their designated stops. It was safer here; save for when the copy of Ava 'Anya' had tried to ruin everything. Or when Sara Santiago and Isa had dropped by…(these new years parts one and two.)

Still, Gus made everything alright -except for one factor;

"You look like you just ran a ten mile relay, 'lil man!" Gus chuckled and kindly stepped over to open the doors to the vestibule.

"We had to up security 'cause of the mandate. I apologize, but could you let me scan you for a sec? It's all regulations in place an' all that." Gus explained, seeming nervous that he had to participate in something he wasn't normally used to.

"How is Shelby? Are you letting her get that scholarship like dad mentioned? I know you guys are still pretty tight."

"Uh-huh, Shelby? You remember my baby girl? I'm touched that you'd start up on that. Really. But your dady is right; you are growin' up. Sniff!*..So fast…!" He was really a big teddy and Aiden had known Gus since they'd moved in back in the day. Gus had a daughter who used to play with him when they'd be waiting to go off to school back in pre k into fourth grade. Ava was pretty ok with her siblings getting along so well, that she had more time to finish her homework (or to make it better) while the kids waited to set off with their scatterbrained, overworked mom or dad.

"I'm not that kid anymore, but I still get mistaken for being sixteen all the time. I went to get something at the convenience store one time, and the guy demanded that I show him my license! It was so annoying…Man, but Am I glad to be back in San Diego like always! Is…Dad going to be in Japan for a whole week?" Did he tell you guys up at the front before he and mom left?" Aiden wondered this as Gus pulled out a handkerchief from his coat pocket and blew loudly into it. A doting daddy, like Cyborg sort of..

"Your mama was all nervous, Aiden. You'd think she had to run off to the hospital! I have never seen a woman fly as quick as she did outta' this building." Gus rambled on. "Your daddy was not able to keep up; an' you know, she's from another planet. You kids have powers to-

"_Uh_!..Where?…Hem…* W-who said that? Powers? NAAH! _Nooo_ way, Gus!" Aiden tried to laugh it off. He still had to keep that bit a secret from even his dad's friends. Had Aiden's mother not let him on too much already?

"Are you ok, lil' man? You look like you need to take it easy. Oh! _DaanG_! **That** your stuff? Holy-oh ok. You an' I are **goin'** up there but you is **not** carryin' all that with ya. **Ya** dig?"

He was pretty clear that Aiden did in fact need help with his luggage. It weighed more than the bat computer!

"Oh- jeez! Did you pack a circus tent fulla' wild animals in here! I can't even…ugh!-

Pulling in one swift tug, the snap* of the handle didn't shock Aiden as much as WHAT had been weighing him down the entire trip over.

A kid..Or was it a short boy…Long hair in a long pony tail; his outfit was a lighter coat with buttons running all down it and a pair of long pants that looked too bg to fit. He was slender, lightly olive in tone for having seemed so out of place in today's world. Aiden gawked while as soon as they'd JUST made it to the 'pents', this…_Had_ to happen….

"What…"

"The.."

"_Hell_!?"

Gus must have gone loco at the sight of a poor kid stuffed inside a bag big enough to hold the Forty- Niners' whole team inside of it.

"MAN! You are gonna be in sooo much of a mess when your mama gets back- I don' even wanna know! But you an' I, we are gonna talk. NOW-

"Sorry Gus!" Aiden took to a trick he'd learned from Anna; a chop to the neck as he carefully wove by towards the main desk, Gus's arms a bit heavier than he'd liked to remember. Especially since the guy was like an uncle or like CY had been as a God-father. Aiden felt like he was pulling a heist at some giant's tech firm in New York City (or Gotham for that matter HAH.)

"Shit…._**What**_ I this? **Why**?.._Urgh_! Come _on_!" Aiden had to keep his cool but just lost it, before gripping the tween spirit in another life's coat arm and dragging him towards the elevator. "**WE** can talk more when _he's_ off our case."

The kid looked, depressed as the two stood waiting for their floor to come up. Aiden could see it; not only by the kid's shaken frame, yet by how his eyes didn't so much as reach Aiden while he was so afraid of the off- duty Chosen.. Just like how young Raku had been in that last fight a few years back, he had seemed less believable as a person to the skeptical, confused blonde.

Aiden, felt it too. The pride had pushed him away further and…They had made that promise. He gulped back his own inhibitions and tried to reason with the spirit made corporeal by a curse – a curse that gave life to a spirit from another realm entirely.

"Sorry, I freaked out there-

"I'm not worried about that." Raku shook his head softly and look up finally, his amber to ruddy brown shades a cascade of mesas at their very peak. He was alert at least. The nineteen-year-old sighed, still less than regretfully. Aiden realized that he'd thought the kid would act as before, when he was still afraid to lose himself to that dark force from deep within his memories.

"Then, I scared you? I mean, I went off like a volcanic expl-

"Humans…You sure do like to hold onto your regrets. I must be the same." Aiden blinked mid-way through his rant. The kid…Was being a wise guy?

"Hey! You were like me too back in …Sumerian times right ?-

"I did act brashly, and as a consequence I was physically worn down. You only had a reprimand." The boy brushed a long strand of hair from tickling his earlobe. "If it were myself who'd been in Gus's shoes, your punishment would have been to stand trial in my day."

"Well, I'm no smuggler. But, you came out of that thing! What wa-

"We have arrived at your floor." A ping* sounded off immediately from the elevator's system; alerting both riders that they'd reached their final destination.

Raku was first to leave the dreary box; though his demeanor was very cold, almost distant as he didn't even turn around to acknowledge the dumb stricken Aiden Grayson from within HIS own apartment complex.

"Hey!" Aiden had left his bags on the first ground floor. He realized that getting into the house might be a chore without the-

"This door is yours; correct?" Raku had located the spot by his deduction of the latter. The fact that Roku had visited was not why, but his sense of deduction alone, the fact that the aura of his once-vessel Richard Grayson still thrived here…Raku just used what magic he could to unlatch the door as it swung back softly from its inferior hinges.

Aiden gawked in the doorway as he stepped through first –

"Aren't you coming inside?"

"I had to be invited first." Explained the dark-haired teenager coolly. He walked with an air that was known only to those of a royal spirit's bloodline. His impeccable style of dress was due to the stress on Raku's memory. He'd landed inside that box…Though had no clue as to how or why. That was why he'd not explained his fuzzy trip and the details all to Aiden right there inside the elevator earlier.

The blonde stepped out of the way, though saw no real cause for alarm -however, he still seemed extremely cautious around the djinn son and his unstable energies. Right now, his magic was capped. Astarte had helped in a way that Raku could not hope to thank her enough for in another lifetime.

"Ah, I'm going to phone someone. Did you…Want.."

"Do you by chance actually…" Raku finally could ask his well needed question as he fidgetted. Aiden looked nervous as the boy seemed to …

"I have this strange feeling..A long time ago it was natural..However…."

"Oh!" Aiden barked a laugh. "You need to go, riiight. Being human can do that!-

"Where then is the pit? The place whee…"

"Come on." Aiden pulled the kid further in through the doorway until they'd reached the first bathroom Raku had used since a thousand -eras passing.

/

As soon as the boys had gotten down to real business; not just relieving themselves, Aiden did what he'd assumed was uncouth. He called Ann from well into the wrong hour.

"Shit…Is she sleeping? It's after dark right now in Europe, right?" He held the phone out a bit and threw it on speaker before Raku had decided to try and sit on a living room sofa cushion. He did so much as to find it so beneficial, that the teen took the object and neatly placed two of them onto a free space on the floor. His country was a different world to Aiden, so Aiden imagined the pow-wow formation would be entirely one on one. Yet Raku, was going to live with them…

It rang! Finally!

"Hello?"

~Are you for real?...It's two in the damn mori..ning….ugh…~

"Ann, listen." Aiden tried to lower his voice to a whisper. "Mom and dad weren't responding on my way back. Did you…What's going on? Are you still in –

~I'm done with this…. Just go finish what YOU started…Now, hanging up!...~

"Hey! Wait! This is-

"Urgent…" Aiden had believed that Ann would have all the answers as he turned directly over towards the boy seated on a soft cushion on the family's den floor.

"Are we ready to talk?" Raku asked as he patted the extra seat beside his own puffy cushion on the ground. It did _look_ sort of cozy, but…Aiden bit his lip and took the cell phone with him.

"Alright." He bent down to reposition his posterior. "What are you trying to do now?"

"I want to help." Raku spoke so plainly, with a lacking emphasis to his speech. He just sounded, so empty…

"Without words, we may reach whomever it is you wish to call."

"Ah!" Aiden forced the thought of being scanned not to overwhelm him, yet Raku's aura…It was as a thousand stars…A galaxy as the doorway opened wide. He let himself drift off…A sea of stars…And then…

~Aide! Aiden! Help! ~

A voice!

"Wah!" He awoke; his eyes too wide to be a coincidence. That was no ordinary vision. It had to be her.."

"Who did you meet?-

Aiden wiped a droplet of sweat from his brow the feeling was epic; it made him dizzy but….

"Ami…Ami's in danger." He looked to Raku who was still internally healing from all of the energy he'd allowed to course through his new body. His hands were still, yet his new heart pounded briefly before calming itself down.

"You, must then go to her-

"She's in Tokyo with her fox friends! I…I don't –

"Would you then like us to find them?" Raku added.

"Aiden got up onto his knees once he wasn't forced to wobble over towards the couch. "Who?"

"The Chosen would not be, had it not been for the the Heroes of this Earth." The boy said. "The Titans must rise once more-

"They aren't the same. It's still Robin but without the adults…"

Raku lifted himself up slowly from his make shift seat on the ground. "Do you wish to save her?" He asked the teen with a heart as solid as un-earthen stone. Aiden looked back, unsure if he should answer. **This** was the child to a god of prophecy. Of the Eclipse which covered the light of the sun. Unlike the moon, it was what sapped all force from the surface of the teen's very mind and body. Raku was a tool if he did decide to say yes, he knew it. Raku was also the child of a Djinn lord and record keeper of Eternal origins. He had the untapped powers of Manifestation and could bring the pages of any unwritten tale, to a close with one glance. If Raku was asking if he could unlock his true potential by the pact holder's immediate say- so, he was dead wrong. But…If Aiden agreed, he didn't know what the kid was _truly_ capable of; as far as transportation spells and the like. Maybe…It was risky. Astarte, Isa, Shoji, Kaien, his damn mom and dad…They had all warned Aiden about Raku or just about what forming a contract COULD mean if he completed a task for his contracted….

Raku was soulless here on earth. That was why he'd had power, and as Aiden saw it…Fragmented memories scattered about. Tehn..but where did his heart return to? He was more than that. Aiden had said it back within the void then, and he believed it then too…

"Are you willing to fight?"

"Fight?" Aiden rasped out as the question came at him too quickly to counter. He felt sick, as if this were torturing him somehow-

~AIDEN! ~

Aiden looked up and then towards the doorway. No one- I was only until he'd blacked out that a moment later, the lights came back on with a flip of the main room's switch.

/

"You can quit playing god now."

Aiden let his eyes flutter open Gus was pacing away trying to get a call out to Cyborg ; they were tight through Dick so it wasn't as bad as-

"Hah!-

"Lie still." Aiden took a glance upwards and saw who had spoken now, and before he'd blacked out.

"We are wasting time! WE must save-

"You, are bein' rude while this woman over here came all this way to protect mah ass. I don't wanna think that you are some mass murderer …Whatever you-

"I…I don't understand?" Raku coyly cocked his head to the side to throw off the mean man's attitude.

"Bullshit!"

"Quiet Would be nice…" Rachel Roth rubbed her temples and groaned as Aiden's aura had started to return to normal.

"Are…how'd you get to-

"I had a feeling. Cyborg said that Gus called and no one was there. I came to see why and now, I know why." She said in a tired, almost sluggish and raspy voice. "You were suffering from a physically attack, though it wasn't human so I came here."

"we...are linked?" Aiden was amazed by this technique. Though he wondered what Aunt Rachel had meant by 'not human.' Raku was flesh and blood as far as Aiden knew, but…

"Ah! His ears, man!"

"Sorry.." Raku hid his same beneath his longer tresses. A part of his immortal past still shone through as his slightly pointed ears were only temporarily there due to the older man and his obnoxious complaints.

"Give me a second." Raven turned over her hand to go and find Raku; cowering by his returning powers and hating every second of the feeling that he'd recover his lost memories –

"Azarath Metrion Zinnnthos…" In a lulling tone, Raku felt his ears revert as he let his arms down from covering them up. "You can't control what happens next." Raven deduced as her eyes never left the two boys for a minute or so longer. She turned just then to an anxious Gus.

"Rachel, Is Dick alright?" Gus was definitely cooled off by the display and remembered why he'd helped Raven of the Titans in the first place. He was worried about his pal and the man was sure that no ounce of psychotherapy could cure him in a million years from what he'd just gone and witnessed!

"Richard went to Japan to see his youngest daughter; they should have arrived since yesterday." Raven said, then turned her attention towards the groggy eyed Aiden Grayson as he sat up from the living room couch's embrace.

"Oh, right…We contacted Ann but she's-

"Time zone was not even three A.M." Gus shock his head, as if Aiden hadn't gone to college to learn anything else about the world around him.

"I effed up, I know. She's no help to us right this sec. But then-

"Raku tried to analyze your mind, you ended up not being able to handle his attempt." Raven crossed her arms and now had all eyes on the ebony haired new comer to earth's many laws and procedures.

He tried to form the words but looked nervous with a highly trained empath at the helm of this rickety boat. The captain and her loyal crew, he was so royally screwed.

"I came here, with a message from Lady Aleuhainyu of the Eternal world's highest sect.."

And just as suddenly as the room had quieted down, he soon began to weave his tale of an urgent matter; which was certainly in need of some fixing by this new world's current, Chosen and now the weakened, power-source on this dull plane had to be told, everything from the very beginning to end.

/

A noise resounded as the echoing pain etched itself across Ami's temples. Had Haru been ok? She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. Haru _was_ out there. Ami gasped and sat up off of the pavement with a jolt, as fast as a moving train. By the looks of things on the streets of modern-day Tokyo, it wasn't a pretty sight to behold for the fourteen-year-old teenager.

Haru was electric; as her bolts of magic energy PELTED, massacred* the attacker known as the god Hypnos. Was he really there? His body was transcending time and space as he used his abilities to dodge her attacks, but Haru…had nine fiery tales attached to her backside now. She in that moment, had the upper hand.

Haru, was on a Greek god of sleep's own level and winning!

~These humans waste the potential of what dreams might bring to their ordinary days….So vey peculiar that it bores me..Yaawnn…!~

He was so lethargic for a god that Haru took offense to the figure's tired and lazy attitude while they brawled on the dead streets of Japan's busiest intersecting plaza.

~These humans DO dream! That is why we spirit beings must protect them! You are immoral as a god, as a breathing bit of miasma born effluence to speak such things of us! I am nothing as you; a crooked man! ~

He swiveled round as if dancing on a breeze, then swung out his formless fists as they were meant to obliterate the god's opponent. Instead, a bus, a street sign or two, and a phone store took a dive as Haru had failed to restrain the mercenary's energies.

~I'd just give up on them if I were you, little fox...~ The dark presence of the deity of sleep pinned her down. He'd snuck up from behind! What a trickster! Haru swerved around to counter the creature's damned influence. His gaze meant he was bored; bored meant reckless and…very wea when resisting one's urge to harm…

~Never! My mission is to foresee to a catalyst's ultimate revival! The sun shall not set for the likes of!-

~_**Ungh**_!~ Haru was hit in the gut and tossed to the earth as she clenched her fists, biting her bleeding cheek with a whine.

The wafting miasma had her drugged, help back from returning to her form of an ultimate being. Ami saw and was about to run into the cloud –

~Stop!~ Ami jumped out of the way as Haru threw up her hand. ~Open!~ Haru's last attempt as Ami shook he head, tears ready to run down her face.

~No!I won't leave you here!~ Ami shouted unconsciously through the 'speak.' Haru only smiled a small smile with her fox eyes shut before the portal had Amelia sucked inside, returning her to a safe distance away from all the fighting.

~Ami…You are that light…I shall return to you soon…~

Haru then let her tails set light to the sky; one last attempt…One chance to send the monster away-

~Mmmmno!~ Hypnos cut the attack short and knocked poor Haru down with a single swat. She was already too weak to stay active in her dreams, good.

~My sister is waiting to meet. I just wonder what I should do with all of these…Human bodies…~

He looked about the city street ways; as time slowly passes so did the memory of the country's true protectors. _Goodness_!.. The stores, the crosswalks; everyone was peacefully dreaming sweet dreams of a tomorrow that could never be. If the fox had won, then they might have been spared.

Hypnos let out a yawn and took to his earlier orders. ~I'm one fox short. ~ He scratched his head as his bat wings atop his skull flapped softly. ~No matter. I may as well replace this lost 'kit' with another one…~ He looked in the direction of where the portal had gone off to save the youngest fox's charge. An, Ami…. Maybe she was close, closer than a simple daydream after dusk…?

/


	14. Chapter 14

Teen Titans; New Generations; Chaos Round Arc -Part One; Chapter 14: The Underground Realm -Master Plan; Big Reveal? In comes– Chaos to Tokyo?

/

The dark streets weren't inviting enough; as Slade skulked about where the worst criminals dwelt within these walls, these walls that were holding him back. And while he'd not even sat for long with the brattiest billionaire to date – one who had already paid the man for a job well done, what a night's work it wasn't.

Set up at the ritziest hotel, Slade needed as much dirt on the pig before anyone else could nab the perverted smugglers at his table. And his life in hand if it wasn't enough for him to even BE in this fucking line of business. Wilson sighed as the doors swung back upon his arrival. He'd just made his bed by entering through them, however….

Slade's steak as it came, was on the medium rare side. He wasn't too pleased as the other oblivious male across form his table laughed to his own companions from within the secluded circle of the most nefariously seedy, and unorganized criminal minds. The corporate elite that was. The big boys of gluttonous proportions of all sorts.

None of the men had come to this swanky nightclub and bar without a few hundreds to spare. Slade had found the English country - side a forgivable time away from his usual comings and goings from within the United States, where he kept most of his haunts in order daily even while away on business. He rather enjoyed acting a normal fellow for once; going out to stuff his face for a change, instead…

NO.. Never likely the case. He was here to make his proclamation known that he wanted to finish the job the British gent across from him had offered this highly renowned and revered, world famous assassin. He wanted the true kingpin in a coffin, so Slade intended to grant the man's wish. He had time to kill. He needed the extra fare, or just to waste the hours drolling by – before returning to the U.S mainland.

"There wasn't any trouble at all." The main host held his wine glass up lazily as his glassy reflection indicated that the triumph over the man's enemy's basic kill had been not all he cared about. And by that seedy grin or dishonest smirk, Slade noted that he'd be on the man's shot list eventually.

Ugh, again.. This was _just_ a façade. The other man was a nervous wreck without his bottle to calm the oaf down completely. Now, the billionaire boy looked to be on cloud nine. He turned to look at Slade who politely and modestly raised his own glass to show his own temporary allegiance towards this cowardly trump – wannabe ( yet I HAVE JUST insulted, ehem.. an idiot. Oops! Not really. Not a fan of putting people down in real life. That's criminal, NOW back to the arc. No more rambles!)

/

Giving him no credit at all?

Ehem! * Well! The rich _liked_ to send their men off into battle, though they never gave out many medals for a job well done -and not with the public eye watching constantly for any ef-ups.

Slade however (like this man walking down easy – street so carefree,) enjoyed his own privacy from time to time _too_ much of the time. It gave a man time to come up with better objectives than this 'dime a dozen dimwit director slash - piece of shit at the table…Nothing the sad sorry fool could ever hope to come up with wasn't out of his papa's coat pockets.

~Hum..~

Slade noticed that insults had become a bit slack as a result of retiring far too early..

"Mr. Wilson? Nothing to say?" Slade looked up from his thoughts at the sound of that yapping puppy's irritating yowling. "YOU are the star of the show, so why the long face? Hmm?" The man looked back with his sights clearly out of line; his head must have gotten a tad lighter on those scrawny shoulders since their talk had began.

"How confused you are about me." Slade waved the man to quit his banter, playfully, He'd hoped the guy wasn't toying with his emotions or some eager shit. How he'd avoided jobs that gave too much away. Body and soul (yes I'm talking about the nitty gritty though in the vaguest of detail not to alarm you readers out there.)

" I am only reflecting on my kill with my mentality still in check. To me.." Slade took a slow sip of his wine before speaking again to that small cluster of business giants and their children's children to come of the crème de la crème as well here tonight.

"It was child's play." He ended it all with that descriptive sentence. Still, Nina was no lightweight for a perfectly crafted doll of her alchemy wielding teacher, Dear heart.

"Any killer might have underestimated the android girl by a distant glance. Yet I had no problems with her in the slightest. I worked on my own bots under an old alias you might recall, from a few years before." He sipped his drink thoughtfully and peered over to catch a glimpse of his employer's nullified reaction.

Priceless. "Ring any bells to you?" Again he pushed, hoping to watch those men's' egos come crumbling down.

"Ah." The man's employer did remember as he pointed to Slade with a fish's gaping jaw half - opened within the crowd of mouth - breathers. "Oh! That, was you? _You_ were that ingenious criminal mind from out of Jump City, California?"

Slade nodded before pushing away a growing grin on his face. He had to remain modest. The male was certainly no Joker.

"He was the talk on everyone's mind." The oaf almost laughed at his luck and slapped his knee silly with a cough. "An enigma in a time when modern crime had been trying to find a new foothold in today's world." He said this airily as he held up his glass; he was mocking Deathstroke's old cover? Mayb not..

"Just as impressive and... How very, interesting." The billionaire remarked with a pompous smirk on his eager face now. He was willing to know more; _dying_ to put _this_ Deathstroke back to work for half the price or effort as a super soldier he'd always been. Nothing but the military's rouge wolf hound..

Slade scoffed at the satisfied man's grin and tried to remain unfazed by his employer's remarks. What an airhead.

"A double life? –

"Not really." Slade left his glass to the table and, having a fuzzy feeling from all of that expensive stock his employer had offered his guests here tonight, he decided to humor the men a little. Just to ruffle some feathers later. At least his choice of liquor wasn't making Wilson see double.

"Just a side project. It wasn't long to last, unfortunately." Slade was too busy looking to the past and the man had yet to see it himself as asking of anything; Slade had ruled Jump before with Terra at his side, that had been for less than a few hours... Well, that and his pact with a demon from an interdimensional time line had made him the most hated male fighter once again. His dearly retired enemy Robin the boy wonder had turned to fighting crime alone. Bludhaven had been his last resort…When. Sigh* The dragon had decided to push when he'd least expected. Roku ad broken Dick Grayson's will a while, all while Slade had been unaware of the possession. (A few times a mention before the arc These new years came to be. Check it out. Not very well scripted sadly…Wasn't much room in my life back then to doctor up a few new plot twists. So it goes; Richard Grayson had what the Titans had assumed a mental breakdown after he'd taken a job in Bludhaven and was relocated there, alone to do as a good cop could. However, Roku's influence was strongest where Dick's troubles only persisted once he'd run right into Slade onto a kill of his own. They fought and the influence almost ripped Richard as Nightwing apart. So he didn't return to Kori until they'd finally met Ava Marie when Kori had had her twins at the hospital that day. Isa brought Ava there as she'd been in the goddess's care to prepare her (age was about the age she had to be (time related she was reverted to an age where she'd grow up beside the chosen.)Dick hadn't really made it in time but the dark effect on his mind was quelled after the fight with Slade had ended. He went back to Wayne Manor to recuperate and after that, it was similar to Clannad After Story Movie if you've seen the end where he meets Ushio. So Ava did see Richard at the hospital, then he went off to Bludhaven and the breakdown started soon after. He came back to Japan (the family was there on and off to check in with Shoji and the prophecy since Jump and Cali were littered with the Titans main enemy hot spots.) Shoji was sort of an uncle for reasons regarding his guardian role. He had to make sure the prophecy didn't take a hit; that if the next chosen was born by both Kori and Richard, he'd protect them at all costs.

Which is why this loyal dog hated to share unless it was allowed under his authority. He took on the aspect of a loyal pup and has stuck with it. Same with Ron who's taken over the role currently, right now? The transition isn't pretty solid. Back to the arc! -

"But you had tons of enemies, left an' right!" One bespectacled follower on the group leader's right almost stomped his feet in protest at the answer. That the marvelous 'Slade Wilson' had given his meager posse less of a show than they'd bargained for. If any, it wasn't his turn to show off. This man surely needed to grow up. Slade had seen into the male's files before his arrival. Klaus Berman. The youngest son of a giant enviro- lab industry back in Germany. The big Pharmaceutical industry's ulterior roots were mostly not there, but that one surname had a way of making headway in the paper now and again. The twit here, was an engorged shopaholic. He treated his life so delicately; as inconvenienced by media- hyped garbage as a prepubescent fan-boy, his everyday stumble through a dull, every day adolescence made the killer groan back into his seat while the daddy's boy rambled on..

Pity. How disgracefully distasteful that his talk had left a sour feel in Slade's mouth. Wilson turned away for another fill of his expensive drink from a hostess clad in sequins and smelling of cheap perfume.

Piss water for undersexed swine. Scratch that; it was…Disgusting. It seemed his motives _had_ been found out as the host of this little shindig soon frowned upon the bearer – and as Slade's employer turned back to the bespectacled idiot Bergman. Coarsely, he grunted and shooed the dope off to sit with a few 'attendants' in the next room over. Was he secretly the heir to a sex trafficking ring? He seemed TOO relaxed as the loosely clad dancers took over; coaxing the tubby tightwad to take a load off...Slade suddenly knew that it was time to take his pay and get the hell out.

"It's been fun, gentlemen. Really, though I must really be off to my next contract. I wouldn't want to miss out on the celebration here, but there is no turning down, another newer contract I've been hired to commit to. It's a real kicker, so sorry.."

The billionaire leader across the table raised another eye up to the assassin's level from his seat. "Sorry to see you out so soon." He frowned; while Slade wasn't getting any younger, he was growing white hairs in unfamiliar places around these dolts!

"Oh, though we do hope your assets reach sky-high value before long-

"Why not just hear out one, last request before you turn in for the night? Sorry. Not your style?" Slade raised a brow himself while the cow in front of him thought himself a king on his royal keister. A, request? Was he signing this man off to have a death wish? A last request? How unprofessional of him.

"You are nothing but a damned bitch to this industry anyhow. Come now, Wilson… We all _absolutely_ understand –

That did it.

Slade took up the wine glass he'd discarded earlier. Before any man or sex worker could breathe an inch back into his seat; the sharpest point of the glass had hit the dummy billionaire blowhard right in his trachea. His windpipe wasn't the only thing that had shattered as the man sputtered out and shuddered a dying few last words in agony. As a gushing pool of blood dribbled down his neck, Slade didn't bother to smile over the man's rotten corpse. The man was a prematurely inbred, a pre-Madonna with no hope of this line of work he'd taken from his daddy's deceased fingers ever bearing any real fruit.

"A bitch. First I've heard of that title in…Probably never." Slade tossed the bottom end of his wine glass to the ground and got up to walk out on the stunned bunch of loser megalomaniacs from different countries; scattered apart from around the world, it was still one hell of a party he'd crashed yet again.

"You, should find a new lowlife to follow. This one wasn't worth my time." He turned back to the sniveling bunch as they trembled in a cluster; their cell phones popping out one by one to make the call -the hit to put Slade out on the street.

"Neither should he be any of your problems any longer. Hem...* if you are as smart as the tabloids say, I'd prepare to count another major loss in tomorrow's stock value. Farwell, gentlemen." With a grip of his trench coat round the white-haired male's shoulders, he finally said his Adieu' to this hell-hole of an establishment forever.

Since it was the criminal underworld he'd stumbled down into, there was no real need to panic right away. Slade got his unit out and was ready to call Wintergreen; though he used his cell to stay inconspicuous instead, not wanting to draw any attention to any extra pick pockets with his high - tech device in hand -keys jangling around for crying brats to pick off of him. Laughable.

As soon as he'd had the device close to his ear, a giggle; as if an echo in voice and presence, resounded from all around Slade's who stood upright in his current location. Looking quite spooked.

A child's echo, a little girl? What?

"Not going to answer now, Will…_Sigh*_. Pick up. The damn…" Slade _had_ dialed, but there was no one at the end except a faint beep and then…

~_**WE**__ need to talk, __you__ and I.. ~_

Slade dropped the cell. That wasn't his damn accomplice's voice! What was going on here?!

The laughter only grew louder. Was it the wine? Slade groaned and cradled his temples. Was he drugged up by that bastard? No, his pulse wasn't anything more than unusual; due to his rising cortisol levels, a natural response to extra or overwhelming external stimuli. He wasn't dizzy either or nauseous. Shit! Then... Something was here…

It was watching his every move…

**And**..

~_Got __**you**__!~_ The girl's laughing wasn't **just **meantfor getting his attention; she was intent on showing off while doing her worst to pull him in through a damn _portal_!

Slade screamed out as the miasma licked at his boot heels. Her laughter was just the worst. It was shrill; loudly piercing Slade's ears as he tried to tune it out. Blinded by the beating lights from the other end of that dank tunnel, Slade fell with a **WAMP*** hard - into what to him looked to be a sewage pipe of some sort.

There; as he stumbled and tried to grasp onto the reality which was his fall into darkness all over again, while wafting about was a cherub creature with two big eyes of red and blue, with light curly waves of flaxen staring him down on him from her heavenly perch. She was busy humming and levitated above the man's head. He'd realized that his mask had been left back at the hotel in that hour. The kingpin had not been had, and Slade…Was forever cursed to be acquired by force by any bleeding madmen who paid him in full. Maybe Roko had cursed the mercenary on her way back to wherever big, bad spirit convicts went. Maybe she was cursing him out from her lonely grave right now!...

He grunted and wobbled about before finding his footing on the stony cold floors of what looked to be a sewage plant. Concrete. He was still on Earth, thank god.

"Who invited _this_ tyrant here?"

A new voice shot out as a cherub -figure; flying merrily above, sent a scathing scornful glance back at the back- talking voice's way.

~He is our _guest_...! ~ She announced so easily. Was this another trick? Was Isa still onto Slade as before?

~ **Ah**! Mr. Wilson, was it? You have recovered enough to stand before -

"What…" Slade started to say as he huffed each word out forcefully. "Why exactly do you have any need for me; a human. And…WHAT am I here for? –

~All in due-

"Why, did you capture me! Explain yourselves, NOW." Slade stood up at his height of one physically unbound; his arms were crossed over his chest as his trench coat had been ruined during the fall into the sewers. He looked up at the ring leader; he'd instantly assumed of her this much, with calico eyes that did not back down as he continued to pelt his captor with numerous, roundabout questions. As to why, or how he'd gotten picked to join this circus full of demons and devils from another dimension separate from this one's own, that was the real question. Now, wasn't it?

~ He is an inquisitive one. ~ Eris frowned back and almost pouted at her luck. Her cohorts in the background only cackled away at the diva's devastating mistake. She turned beat red until her heghtened embarrassment had reached its boiling point. SHE was NOT a LAUGHINGTOCK!

~_**NNNNNMMM…**__**SSSSS**__**IIIIILEEEEENCE!**_!~ She suddenly screamed out at the nay-sayers behind her had no choice but to obey. Her eyes lit up as the creature who'd dared to challenge her leadership before; Medusa though in another form, hissed back. While two other cowardly deity rejects attempted to poke their heads into the debate –

~_Not ANOTHER word out of ANY OF __**you**__! ~_

Eris used her magic to twist the gorgon's mane as Medusa stumbled over her own two feet and quickly had no choice but to scuttle off into the darkness to recover from the devastating blow.

~Now…Anyone **ELSE** feel like opposing my ruling hand? _Swine_?_**ANYONE?...**_. **Yes**? O-_KAY_ then!~ Eris threw up her arms angrily and turned back towards Slade. His own eyes had widened by the show of force he'd seen. She, was so tiny…A doll by her stature. Then again, the Meta-human race was chocked full of anomalies such as this cherub's recent, nightmarish fit.

The few who did remain were of the Greek Pantheon alright. One; being a rather racy harpy of the gorgon race clad in blood red, and another being the God Ares in al his standing glory, as he simply stood back and watched his number-one sibling push her fist down another fellow deity's throat. He didn't even bother to stop her. Something was definitely wrong with that picture as Slade was soon again the subject of everyone's attention once more. Two were more an aspect of some elemental force. They looked to be teen boys with pale features and suits only a dated jester might fancy. (Clow cards. I'm bad.)

~We want you to spread my word of chaos to your earthling brethren! ~ Eris said this with a bit of grace to her movements. ~I especially saw you fight that mean ole' dragon. So, I have to ask…~ She grinned and batted her eyes in Slade's face, making him wish he'd black out all too soon. First Tara and Rose, now this..

"You are _hoping_ to start a war. I can tell, you are not trying to hide it. Though…I am honored over who you'd dare to contact from our world…I **won't** be playing side-kick to a two-year-old brat such as yourself, so _forget_ it." He huffed out his venomous response. Hopefully, she'd just fight him and then drop him off in another country somewhere… and that…Wasn't the wisest move, as many more miasma-chains only reassembled to drain Slade's bit of energy. He was weaker than he'd realized (from that chance topple into this damnable tunnel.) Figures…

~You have the potential of a god slayer, though! ~ As Eris sung out his praises aloud, while Slade struggled to maintain focus. Being stilled and squeezed dry by the deity's brutally forceful methods of torture. That's all this was. A way to crack a few eggs. She wasn't that strong then...She couldn't-

~What about if I could grant any wish you wanted? My apples are both high in vitamin C **and** they can give ANYONE I allow their fondest, deepest desires…Sigh...*~ She'd gotten turned on by her own story. Drooling over the thought of a nip at that hip. Apple blossoms meant nothing to her plans however.

~ How romantic, right? –

~Go to hell! ~

Eris and her few in the crew gasped. She was trembling, though not from that…

~Heh..Hell..Funny...Then?… _why_… …don't _you_…._** JUST**_! ~

She grit her teeth before…. He could bat a lash. She sighed, controlling her temper. Though as a goddess, she did a poor job of hiding her obvious contempt underneath that frown.

Slade had been involved in mediocre torture traps before. This, was very, very much just as bad of a predicament. And he…. Had just bad-mouthed a goddess…

~Ah-ah! You can't deny _iiit_!~ She sang as a cherub might, with eyes as a daring vixen's own.

Oh, but Eris wasn't _this_ person. This…. Cherub? She was just for running the show in person; as no one on earth could deal with her ole' gloomy guise from the past- lands.

She must have not gotten her full dose of magic back yet. Slade sighed. He was about to be turned into a bowl of ectoplasm at this rate…If only Slade had made some excuse not to be at that club...But…These hollow spirits were _relentless_. They fed as demons might off of the energy of the living world. Which made him wonder if the spirit beings were a race to be feared.

~I won't have you say no…Not when you deny your true ways to us -We won't give you the option! _HaHAHA_!~ She laughed evilly, though that too wasn't her true face to show to the mad man. She was killing him with her Lolita episodes. It was unquestionably familiar…

~ There is no hope unless you sign MY contract. ~ She announced and placed out an outstretched palm before Slade's one working eye.

As the gruesome task continued to be administered onto the false angel's victim, she couldn't help but gloat at her catch.

~Oh, False- Immortal? What about _this_ offer then…? ~ Eris turned to Slade this time with a snake's charming tongue lapping at his beard, hoping to gobble up the assassin for hire's lesser remains.

~I have the knowledge of all gods known before my time. ~ She poked him on his nose and grinned . Seeing this man as simply inhuman by his expression being more demonic than her own. They wouldn't have that here.

~So…You see, scraggly man. ~ She went on with her threats of world domination. ~I know how you can get even as they say… 'toe to toe' as they say, with some rather arrogant…Titans…~ She hissed the last part and that, made Slade's skin crawl a bit too easily for his own liking.

~_Wouldn't_ you reconsider? _Hmm_? ~

Slade was relieved that his love- hate desire for Adeline Kane to forgive him (in his dreams but it was just a dream) protected the man from this nosy harpy's magical enchantments. Then again, young flesh wasn't his favorite and should she ever expect him to…He shuddered at that mistake with Tara Markov. She was, just a way to gain power, she was a tool then and dead to him now. (Yes, Judas Contract comes to mind but here I'm making it so that Tara's episode did happen and that it was when the Teen Titans had already been adults; in my earlier arcs I did state that Gar and Terra were through because of what she'd done I believe…So, Tara was in fact, all quacked out in the comic too. Sorry D.C and Marv, we had our fun with that.

~I know how much you miss being a part of these unwritten, tragic outcomes…~ She sighed; as if to keep her pace with all of these twists and turns in the goddess's speech leaving her breathless. Slade rolled his eye as she batted hers.

~The humans are just fodder to you and I. ~ Eris lifted up her sweet features about to search into his orb of a glassy reflection; grey and blue. He must have been a blonde boy once, she presumed.

She was…Well, acting so unlike her goddess counter part of the far past…And as Slade was enticed by the offer; though he had to fight back, he knew where this would eventually lead. It was written all over his face, in her expression…Damn goddess…She'd _known_ his weaknesses before he'd had a chance to mentally guard his emotions fro her!

"Sorry… …I'm…Retiring…U_unnh_!_ Gasp_* …URRRGGGHHH!..._** Sooooon**_!"

Unfortunately, getting _squeezed_ to death by such unremarkably strong tendrils made by this pipsqueak's energies wasn't a fond to-do in Slade's chapter. He'd not approved of it, yet Eris was testing him. She wanted to play, and he was a mere plaything to this posse of overwhelmingly underrated gods and goddess rejects.

Slade, wanted out-

~I'd just need one thing from you, my excellent killer of Earth's last fall...~ Lazily Eris strung up that title with a wave off her arm and a sway of her underdeveloped hips. Her white summer dress fluttered along; the modern-day robes of her people. Yet it was Autumn now, she was spreading chaos through the fashion market? Was her master plan that vain at all? She was no Hera or Aphrodite? Thank god, not a Lilith either….

~I would need you to bring me a few more key players. And I think you few have in fact met before; A Lisa Viscado, I think? ~ Eris then cautiously added in. ~An Amelia Grayson or even her siblings. I suppose right now she holds the most magic in her family's eyes. And, lastly!-

"DID. . …. ' .IT?" Slade had felt enough and struggling this much was a real bother to him already. He just used what force he could and with a gun by his hip; as an assassin's protective weapon while out on a run around any city globally by name, he tried to shoot the ground to startle the snaking force that had him boxed in. Slade would be doing most of the boxing from now on.

~_Urrgh_! You need to listen to _**MMMEEEE**_!~

Eris looked ready to chop his head right from his muscular shoulders. She had also been wasting her time apparently.

~ I won't let you off the hook again! LORD _**ARES**_!~

Uh-oh.

Slade turned his head a quarter inch with the tiny goddess's permission. She was grinning like a damned imp.

Now he'd done it! Slade backed up a few steps as a colossal force known as the god of war came stomping over. His boots; which well. THIS was new –

Aha, they were something more modern like the cherub's pretty white sundress in the middle of October. Those clopping hooves _shook_ the ground as the deity looked more delinquent than mere daemon by his appearance. A pretty brute too by how he seemed to reflect his personality to match only Adonis's. Very suave.

~Well, shouldn't you _attack_ or something? ~ Eris groaned to her family as Ares just yawned. He had to be the biggest oxymoron-

Aha! Slade, he could head for any exit in this dark dungeon-

~Not right this moment, partner of mine. ~

Slade felt chilly; his body went slack as an even more menacing force overtook the assassin by storm. A figure removed her cowl from the sidelines while Slade's eyes had to narrow by all of his rotten luck. The miasma around his frame had the whole room in a dark place. Silence had entered the halls by one so fair as a noblewoman and future crone to the underworld courts.

"The **Daia** girl…" Slade sneered as SHE entered the room. "You aren't much to expect from this circus of the-

~I am **here** to see things through, sir. As the human known as, Lisa carries my sister's wandering spirit. I too have sought peace of mind elsewhere...~ She proclaimed this and looked troubled by her thoughts somewhat. How she spoke this bit of information to the group's live captive. Was she not aware that he could take her life given their history? She must have had another reason for troubling him with these bafoons right behind. Why was the daughter of a lady noble woman past and present, here in the said present and working with anarchist deity from ancient times?

~ YOU are ordered by the gods of chaos to bring her to _me_. ~ Slade cocked his head at the demand. It was a demand. Yet he wasn't leaving this den of ugly souls without a valid reason first.

~As for your wish, we will _allow_ you to carry out your tasks and in return…You'll have all the power you need, to destroy the Titans and their followers forever. Eris, didn't get finish? ~ Cici turned slyly to the side-stepped blonde goddess, who took a slight pause before answering the sorceress in black's question.

~I was _trying_ to, but your cowardly enemy is **super-duper** _rude_! Brother? Clamp this ingrate into a tighter hold whilst I try over, _again_…~ Eris's brother was Ares after all. She snapped her fingers and, like a puppy he obeyed her every command.

Ares wasn't from this; his status had been relinquished. Or rather, this Ares was another beast altogether! The Ares that Diana or Wonder Woman knew was a cold adversary. Guessing the glorified version remained in the mysterious chalk drawing layout that was the spirit realm, he decided to play out the stakes until something could lead Slade to an exit.

Slade agreed to end this battle; as soon as his strength bested Adonis's by a long shot. Slade was trapped between a rock and a hard place as the surging currents of the god's forceful hold only made the madman see stars. Just as Cici's magic stun spell did the trick, he could not fight back for a while longer to plan another tactic...

~NOW. After having been interrupted by our 'team player' here! Sigh..*…One other character must be brought before us, to face his sentence and to open the gateway to the realm of the INFINITE!~ Eris sounded crazy as her eyes were filled to the brim with those chaotic predetermined outcomes. Dozens at her infinite disposal.

"_ANOTHER_ PLANE? WHAT?" Slade could still talk, which he thanked his poor luck for anyway. Ares made it so that he suffered the consequences as before, a double twist had the assassin's eyes pop out involuntarily from his sockets. Not your average bear hug as the man's face was back again no sooner to search the depths of cherub's own two blue and red orbs.

~The very realm is where one can BIRTH a freaking world! _HAHAA_!~ She giggled, switching to a cackle soon after. ~As with the rest our wishes combined! _Ahh_, I _cannot_ fathom it...Can _you_?! Ole' Zeus can suck it big time! ~

She grinned and danced around Slade's skull as Ares put the squeeze on harder. ~ I found out, that the two keys are these – that _they_ are so very…necessary to have for our plans to run _juuust_ right* on schedule …~ Slade winced as the hypocrite harpy babbled on. What an idiot though! She used her powers as a crutch. A child. No wonder Zeus had thrown her out of his palace then.

~Raku; the boy who knows more than enough sin, and the last…Lisa Viscado's false Alter, Alice. ~ Eris continued.

Cici's ears perked up at the child's name. She was all ears but for another reason Slade guessed by how she trembled in the background.

~Those relics need two things; their companion catalysts in the form of the elemental protectors I've heard _soo_ much about…The girl AMI is Amaterasu of Japan's replacement of the rising sun. A perfect candidate! And the other? It is….-

~**What** of my dear Alicia!?~ Cici suddenly panicked. Eris grit her jaw and turned her eyes towards the frightened sorceress. She smiled back sweetly to her new ally;

~_She_ will be freed from the creation known as Alice, my dear partner…. I won't hurt a hair on HER head. Not to worry your pretty little soul! ~ Setting her sights back onto Slade's one weary eye, the goddess finalized her request in full.

~The last piece, is the opposing force of that forgotten relic. His alter-self…Roko…The demon which spawned the god's true turning _annnnd_ that's really all I need from you! You'll have the ENTIRE Earth at your disposal once I'm done turning these human pigs into live cattle! Sounds like a plan you'll partake in, NOW?~

"What are you getting at." Slade wasn't satisfied with that explanation. Just dribble. It had to be something else…

~AARHGHH! _AREES_!~ Eris whined to her brute of a brother as the two twins Gemini shook their heads, sorely regretting being given life by a maniac such as this twaddle-wad of a deity's incarnate.

~Fuck **iiit**, _**MEDUSA**_! If he won't budge an inch, **YOU** had better make him bend a bit more before I decide to REALLY bruise his slimy bones up! I'll turn you into a puny slug if you don't comply, _pig_! ~ Eris scowled back at the mercenary as he simply looked her over before snorting softly his reply. A huff made Eris lose her shit very quickly.

Medusa rolled her eyes and slunk over from out of the shadows to help her leader. It was her duty to rise to the top in the past… How she'd wished the twit goddess of now, had thought over taking control of that puny, body of an underdeveloped and scrawny blonde child. It was just too much that the gorgon would gladly laugh about the goddess's sinister size once this excuse for a meeting had been adjourned. Maybe her temple would finally seem like a home once the group here had drained every last mortal of his or her strength.

Eris grit her teeth and held in a seething breath. She could do _sooo_ much better…

~Happy place. Happy place…Find your happy place…. ooooh…DAmnDAMNDAMNEDBEITALL!~

Ares tried to calm his lovely sibling down, however, he'd surely be cut down if he tried.

~Is it truly necessary to enlist this outsider's help? ~ The elder Gemini twin threw out his thoughts to the dethroned queen as her rage only intensified. All from being of her flaming orbs of red and blue, the elder Gemini boy shrunk back instantly by that glare coming his way.

The younger cowered, and knew that the time he'd spent trusting his brother was nigh. She would tear him apart limb from limb!

~Don't anger her _again_, brother...~ The younger warned while begging in a meek voice from beside his sibling's shoulder. ~ She will stop at nothing to get what it is she desires. We are but astral projections, not fully of ourselves -only constellations created from stardust! ~

"Is it time?" Cici turned to Eris who soon was, more aware of her temper and the time the mini goddess had gone and wasted.

~We should just bury him, you are right.-

"Wait!" Slade hard someone call out on his behalf. Was it…?

"You'd be foolish to let this one perish. He can certainly break down our quarry if he wishes. Eris. Partner, was it?" Cici raised a brow and turned to her allies with a wicked glance. Her orbs of golden hues and full-moon shades had intensified brightly.

"I know of a spell which might bind him to us until our task here is through-

"I won't be cursed by _anyone_!" Slade spat. "What ar… -

"_AARR__**gh**_!"

Ares watched as Medusa put to use her wicked energies while Ares acted as a giant and _crushed_ the former madman's bones to fracture apart.

"You will serve us or be given no choice but to live your days as a helpless skeleton for we daemon to command of thee, **Deathstroke**-

"_Y…ou_...! " Slade grit his teeth and bit down as the pain only inched through; his very veins would burst if ever given THAT much pressure! It was intense! Debilitating…No _wonder_ nerve pain was so real when you were chronically alive versus being shot in the spine (while a military grade healing serum took to easing the struggle. It was like pushing back the floodgates. The painful, scorching agony was winning.

"Thhhhenn…..._FFFINE_!"

"_**AAAGGGGGGHHAAA**_!" Slade fell from the war god's arms and was incapacitated, leaning uselessly on his side. A shattered shell as he tried to sink deeper and deeper into himself in fetal position on the cold ground. Eris snorted and took to snidely speaking back to Cici; she'd felt upstaged by the extra diva. Of course, they were at each other's throats. Cici wasn't an idiot. She was in fact, just as cunning. What a mess this had created…

~She'll be drained of her craft by my will soon enough. ~ Eris reminded herself as she thought about this outcome while that _other_, underworld's rougue witch was still quietly watching from her throne of pipes and filthy running water.

Medusa grappled Slade and held him up as he moaned in pain, while Eris took to deciding if Cici's request could be validated or not.

"What spell and how much –

"It is my gift to _you_, Lady Chaos." Cecilia Daia Crescendo opened up her palms and took out a small black spiral shell. "An Ammonite from the very ageless oceans of the past." She said for all to hear.

The Gemini twins watched on as Medusa kept the ill - tempered and false -Immortal male contained. Ares looked to see if Eris knew what the other witch had meant, as she came slowly closer with her black cloak fluttering behind as a band of moths in the dark. As she began to emit a power through her fingers, Eris finally understood.

"Remove the man's eye patch." Cici directed the bully Ares to do this as he gladly peeled back the man's black eye patch with one clean sweep over the mercenary's vision.

"Now…..Watch…As this is…For you, my _future_ ruler of EARTH…!" Cecilia did as he'd expected not of this dark queen and her hidden heartbreak and remorse. She JAMMED the Ammonite into his eye as it melded together with the glassy piece. The false eye was now a container for the cursed object. A simple solution. The ammonite had been imbued with a spell meant to control the skeletal structure and mind of any being with flesh born on to his bones. She smiled as cruelly as Eris would have only expected of a child of the lunar cult. Eris grit her jaw worriedly. _She_ was the center of attention! That _witch_ was taking her toys away!

"There…Now…"

As Cici tossed back her eyes for the light to catch them from a crack in the wall; a small flicker made her more inhuman to Slade than he'd seen of any woman or meta human.

Truly a terror to behold.

~**Will** you complete Lady Eris's task without question, assassin?" Cici stepped back as Slade somehow; without his thoughts on the same page yet his body acting firstly –

"_Yes_..."

"Good soldier then." Cici turned to Lord Ares as he took to his proper role as an underling of his dear sister. ~ I shall see to it that he follows your orders through. Worry not, my dear Eris. ~ The goddess however, was caught off guard and that…Meant.. Eris gulped. Ah, she needed some time alone to think. Cecilia wasn't all that! HA! She could top that. She had to, just to stay top-dog!

~Very, good…I'll be away. ~ Eris was tired out as she spoke this to her new partner in crime. ~ So, **don't** blow this or your head will sit next to this oaf's from within my temple's grand hallway entrance back in the mother world. Alright, then? ~

She narrowed her eyes with a crooked grin Cici's way. ~Priestess? ~

"As you command, your highness." Cecilia bowed and for some reason, it annoyed the goddess greatly. She hated this child more than the humans here on Earth.

Eris huffed, bowed a slight then took to her place among the terrible and foreboding terrors of this universe and the next.

/

Ares had Slade kept in a chamber that had been repurposed out of what appeared to be the same plant. He was without a way to walk out. His bones were so dead to him. So, lifeless…

~I have…to concentrate…. Contact…. some…way….meditate..~

He didn't have a choice. The way out was not a simple one as he closed his eyes tightly. The killer had learned of a trick known simply as astral travel in the past through meditation on an almost daily level. He'd not performed this trick in years. If it backfired, he could be left off to drift forever through the astral void where nothing but the lost souls of the past existed. And the many manifestations were far worse, they had no form. No way to be read or understood clearly. He mentally took in an inhale before finding his so-called center…

~The only empath I know, wants to kill me. I might as well give her a call before I go under. Just my rotten luck...~

/

Ami shrugged off her shoes and dashed in the doorway of Yumi's complex. She was alone…. Shoji…She had to call Shoji!

"Ami-Chan?" Ami jumped at the sound of footsteps from behind her. "Ah! Yumi…. Oh, am I glad to see you here! -

"Ami! You are all bruised up!" Yumi dropped her briefcase and had not even bothered to jump out of her heels. Bad luck. Why was an alarm bell going off…Ami gulped and side stepped away from her ally…No…You'd think it had been, but this was too coincidental to be real…?

"Ami…? Are you ok? I'm right here! Don't-

~IMPOSTER!~ Ami looked to her right and saw a blur.

"Shoji!"

~_ACH_! You are no fun, ya runt of the litter, little shit!~

Charl reverted to his demonic self; wings and all, and Ami saw it fully now. She'd run back home, only to be met by the wrong Yumi? Shoji -Ah, Verra was ok?

~Sorry, love. ~ Shoji snorted as another face soon joined them both. ~Show off! ~ The black cat hybrid sneezed before rushing in after his companion, Kayumon; the elemental of the sky and four passages of the spirit world.

"Ah! You guys!? Isn't Yumi supposed to-

~No time! Go! _WE_ are going to whack that ghoul back down for ya! ~ Verra smirked as he edged closer to the winged evil that was Charl - reverting to his old batty self to throw the cat off kilter. What a guy!

"But…-

~**Augh**! Oh **ok**! _Wiz_!? You got a sec to handle her! -

"How rude!" Ami looked to her side; Wiz Greggory was there sitting on his keister drinking from Haru's good tea stash! What was happening?

"Ami isn't a her, Ami is your niece, Shoji. Treat her with the-

~No time for political correctness! We have to-

~_RRR__**RRGH**_! **How** can I not catch that moving, **damnable** target?~ Charl screamed back impatiently.

Shot after shot went after both fox and dog as Wiz finally saw that the fired shots were a bit too hot to handle. Not to mention his tea still was lukewarm at least after letting it sit, unattended to..

"Come along then, Amelia." He sighed; placing the cup on one step before letting his words do the rest of what he'd been sent here to accomplish. Greg took towards levitating both he and Ami Grayson through a new vortex, as Ami tried to keep her skirt flat against her rump. ~See you just in time for supper!~ The sorcerer in silver and white called back to his comrades, as he and poor Amelia made their daring escape through another restricted channel. It was, the only way to pause the mess so that Ami could understand pretty much everything that the previous Titans had missed to tell her.

~What is going on! ~ Ami and her ally fell into a place where Greg thought she'd be safer than on Earth for a little while. ~Am-

~All will be explained, my dear. ~ Gregory turned to the child with a small smile; his eyes crinkled softly shut and that seemed to do the trick. ~Shoji and Kayumon will join us, don't give up. Believe in them, ok? ~

~Ok…~ Ami meekly replied, but she felt meek. He was shorter than she was!

After heading a - ways past a green meadow that stretched on for hours, the two soon stood; standing before a hollow that the poor girl would never have recognized to have been Gregg's own home sweet hut even if she'd given it the utmost thought.

~Here it is! My old study. ~ He sighed and recalled the days of an endless solitude. ~Thankfully then you'll be safe here, Miss. Amelia. Stay and we'll contact the Titans and Guardians from my home-

~How…You are, uhh…A.. a hobbit? **Seriously**? ~ She pointed at him with a look of concern on her face.

Greg ignored the jest and assumed the child had seen too many glorified versions of his peoples.' (Thank you, Tolkien!) Digitalis had many such as Gregory, though originally, he was more so a druid and a scholar under the Delphi sect of the spirit divide to the past. In a sense, he had many forms he'd taken over the years. As a wandering bard, a scholarly headmaster of the magical arts to the north, a messenger for both Athena, Hecate and Gaia herself (Arc from Wattpad.) He'd only been cursed with this body due to Lilith and her evil craftiness…

_Ehem_* Not a very sorry way to put that, **but** he'd lived on while excelling as usual in magic alone, in a hut…Does sound kind of like a hermit!

It _wasn't_ until Slade had sounded the call and he'd flown (or fallen through a portal) off to Earth purely as a precaution and against Veronica (who at the time was on the side of evil, mind you.) There in Jump City, he'd met the newest Power-source. He'd even befriended some old, reincarnated souls who'd been put in charge by Isa (Lady Isis) as the world's guardians. Yet, the whole way down through the clouds, no one could have guessed the outcome as they had today…Until now that was…

A few manifestations had not gotten the dwarfed fellow any lower, oh-no! He was far too powerful now thanks to Lady Lori's last gift (arcs ago when Greg was imprisoned by Roku) and his newest position beside Lady Light of the Elemental sect of Light and Creation.

Then if anything, Ami was possibly old enough to know more. Why did Haru keep her words to herself?

~I'm talking strange…Is this how spirits usually-

~It is mind 'spoken' to us, to you it is as mere speech, though not always alone. ~ Greg clarified as he unlatched the door to his abandoned study. As soon as the stout sorcerer had opened the wooden latch imbued with magic against said 'intruders,' –

Ami screamed out.

/

A pile of books greeted the few; coated in tons of dust and laced with cobwebs new AND old. Greg stopped the falling stacks with his magical abilities as swift as the wind's gentle caress.

Ami groaned as if that had been nerve racking enough (yet she'd flown through time and space to get here which in itself was a real trip!)

Amelia Grayson cautiously looked in over Greg's shoulder once the danger had all but passed. ~What was that? ~ She managed to whisper excitedly. ~ Do you….um, this is weird...~ The girl stopped herself there from saying much else.

Amelia waited for Greg to have her step past him, when he'd believed it was entirely safe to enter the room. After a brief surveying of the entranceway for any more traps, he finally turned to look Ami's direction with a relieved sigh.

~It is ok my dear. I, just haven't cleaned up in decades since my post in the Light sect of the Heavens has been…lengthy. ~ He apologized and scratched his cheek nervously. Ami was annoyed, though. Greg was a bigger pack rat than her brother Aiden had been living at home all through middle school!

He had to tidy up but then, the prophecy had nudged her family to fight back against a miserly ole' dragon.

Yet. After three decades of being top of his class -well! Some dark secrets were best left behind barred walls -or of spell books such as these colossal wonders!

~Do you even _have_ a cleaning crew? –

~As a sorcerer who enjoys his privacy, I dare say not! ~ Greg blinked, frowning at the question; and was easily offended by the question, Amelia also had noticed. Ami actually thought it was unlike the mild-mannered spirit and felt quite embarrassed for having seemed nosy in the first place. Anna was right, people change but their habits need extra work sometimes to do the same. AS if it were a living breathing entity, to be so explicit with aspects of the human psyche.

~I have a sort of set of rules I keep to. An aesthetic of wizarding belief, wouldn't know it unless one were to ...Oh, I'd rather not spoil anything. Ahem, we soldiers 'of our orders…Somehow. Have a great respect and responsibility as over -seers of the many realms that function, it I was to put my role in this one so lightly. ~

Ami nodded, but didn't pry. He'd cough up his real intentions; he'd even said, so the there was no need to listen to world history lessons spun along by an imaginary gnome.

~Do not feel alarmed, my dear. Just as in your understanding of what a 'hermit' or 'folk magician' must in fact be, I am the closest copy to what you mortal beings think of them 'to' be. ~ Greg quickly explained to the giggling fourteen year old -what was she so happy about?..*

~And if I asked, why I'm here then? ~ Ami tried to say slowly; not to offend Greg if he did have a short fuse. ~Is Haru…-

~She allowed you to find solace where she was able…._ However..._~ Gregory switched gears as his eyes had started off towards another stack of books near the far back of the little hut. Ami watched as the stout wizard was entranced by the stack, that seemed to be invisible only to _her_ eyes. It should have been. With Amaterasu's light though deep within her, Ami had breached that security lock and had twisted the very balance. She again squinted and tried to see the same object as Greg had seen. Though found that nearly impossible, as there was too many towering, dusty, stacks of spells books to see past. She groaned and hoped Greg could hear echoing snorts throughout this stuffy chamber of paperweights.

Greg was once a god-awful hoarder, or a kleptomaniac? Who knew?

~I'll have to talk to him about that…-

~Wait up!~ Ami shuffled by mountains built out of more books than the ones closest to the door. Compared to a ski trip in the Alps, this was a cake walk to her -and she'd never even BEEN skiing!...

She saw that Greg had gotten separated from her in that maze of towering books. Ami grunted and went after him, wherever he'd….

She then froze up. What to do..._Aha_!

Ami felt the lightbulb go off inside her ticking brain of a teen genius.

She decided to try with a trick her dad had NOT taught the fourteen-year-old.

~OH _wait_! ~ Ami remembered with a gasp. ~I **do** know magic now! I'm all good! ~ She did a little dance happily and had a plan, though a forced one Anna might tell her…

~ Oh well! ~ She started to dig through her pockets for a charm she kept on hand that enhanced her powers in case of an emergency like this one. It was a paper talisman from the shrine nightly school she attended. Hopefully, the gals had gotten out before that creepy Sandman had sent them off to his world of day dreams.

~Release that which binds…Allow the greatest aspect of her craft to take hold…Find within the mirror of the sun's reflection…. Of the strength I desire, be it by a new name! By the gift of the Goddess Amaterasu - Hime! I summon a path - through this maze! Come out! Power of the Shining, Solar Goddess! ~

Ami shut her eyes as waves of light bubbled from inside her chest and spilled out to cover her in a ball of solar energies. She started to take form as a miko with her hair in a lower pony tail, her shoes as getas with socks that were white and thick, her kimono was red and over it ran a strip or two of white and a few accessible charms like the first; while in her hands she held two mystic objects that had only appeared once before. Though separately, they could function.

But together? She could probably melt the polar ice caps in one blow!

A fan with magic symbols and charms sewn into it and on its base, and a mirror that was a bit smaller than Amaterasu's relic of light. Two relics the goddess had entrusted to her newest pupil.

Ami blinked and saw that within the mini mirror's reflection…Was that face of _her_ new appearance. So, why did she feel like something was still…

~Don't worry, Haru! I'm going to get you guys back! ~ Ami jumped at the chance as her new outfit had her chosen's energy of the sun magnified. The stacks of books rattled while something else had-

~Amelia! Get _down_!~

Ami saw Greg with a large, black covered tome under his arm -only he looked to be running…From a three headed dog!?

~No-no! **Bad** Underworld Canidae! You are too close to the surface realm! Back! _BACK_! GET…._**BAACK**_!~

His craft was limitless as Ami watched as books toppled over a space that no longer resembled Greg's tiny hut, but a well stocked library with a high ceiling. She'd gone through another portal? To Hades?

~Greg! What are you! -

~_Angh_! ~ Ami felt as her temples were scrunched together now... The sun. She had to get back to Greg's home…-

~AMI! YOU should not be here! I'm opening a-

~NO! ~ Ami shook her head and was through being carted back and forth. ~HARU IS STILL IN DANGER! ~ She cried back to the sorcerer, who'd kept the yowling Cerberus at bay for now.

~You cannot stay. ~ Still, Greg was afraid for Amelia, he persisted. She relied on the sun and the Underworld for humans was dangerous. If one stayed here to long, he would not find his home again! She'd be a goner! Soul and all.

~Sir Gregory? ~ A doorway did open, though not as either had anticipated. In the center of the way, was a rather tall figure. Or in this case, he wore the armor of a true knight from a Grecian past with his stature off a six-foot height. Beside him was another. Greg gulped.

Hecate an a few spirits of their lower status were curiously beside Lord Hades and looking in on the intruders.

~Lord Hades…~ Greg paled and almost dropped the tome, had he not the decent respect for a good story to tell the worrisome aspect now!

~Explain WHY my Cerberus; a guard to the gates of this plane, is trying to maul an official of the World of Digitalis? ~ The god before them crossed his arms over his broad chest while his helmet held every possible emotion back from the intruder's shocked eyes.

~I…Was brought here, and know not why. Lord Hades..~ Greg tried to bow and brought the book up to show the god; to show the Underworld's guide just what it was the outsider was in fact, after. Ami watched on intently, weak as she reverted back in to her human-clothed self. She pouted for a second before Hecate's scrutinizing eyes fell onto the spirited away child of prophecy. ~Ye shan't' have your time returned to thee, child. ~ She waltzed past the hot headed lord of the underworld and brought out a palm to coax Ami to come hither. She then turned to Gregory as he too her wordless hushes.

~How is this necessary, Hecate?~ Hades stomped his foot as she sauntered past in her dark violet tinged robes. The goddess only ignored her king's whining for here, she was the land's mighty seer; It's queen to the side of the Intuitive. The predominant force where the masculine odds were today, limited in her lord's case. He had his methods while she had her own reason for supplying an open doorway for the god's unwelcomed guests. Had Hades not known of her meddling, then this meeting might have fallen through as a failure to alert 'someone' of the potentially dangerous entity that had broken free from Hades' many prison cells.

~I'll see to his acceptance of our ways. Back down, Lord Hades. Sir Gregory may in fact have his reasons for coming to our realm. We shan't' make you wait long, My Lord. ~ She winked as a gutless Hades had only to guess what Hecate had meant by 'to see to his acceptance.' To he, it was vague.

Guessing the goddess would talk to her Lordship of these accursed, Eternal Under-realms before the day was through, he relented and allowed her to pass him by. Her aura was a concentrated effort that was painted to him as a mural standing in his wake; many shades danced across the floors, which could meld into as much as he could muster -a more malevolent force, should he disturb such a talented sorceress such as the lovely Hecate during her interrogation being held now in the next room over.

He winced as she simply mocked him from every which angle. She was more so a tyrant than he. He was king here- then why did the goddess always come up as man's first name to call, mother? On his father's dying breadth, Hades had never heard that word uttered. Yet Hecate was nothing to sneeze at as far as triple aspect deity went.

~Have it your way. ~ He sighed and had the crowd by his strong arms, disband. How he fell for her acts every time. In fact, Persephone was expecting her secondary beloved in only moments. The months had fallen on the human realm into the harvest months. He chuckled under his breath as his helmet held the rest of the god's thoughts beneath it, a mask against his enemy's pining sights. A perfect enigma was he, though ALWAYS -Hecate had trumped him better than any deity on Mount Olympus once again.

~Ah, she knows me well even after so many mishaps…Good luck, my dear ally. May you find your resolution in the utterly displaced immortal standing **right** in front of you. ~

/


	15. Chapter 15

Teen Titans New Generations - Chaos Round Arc -Part One; Chapter 15: Our Most Common Enemies Don't Come from Straight Out of Hell – Horror in Halloween Town!

/

Ami's running - around with Gregory was something else; getting back to a few other Grayson daughters.

However?

…..

Ava Marie remained sullen. Her eyes held no real meaning n them as the days droned onwards. Her head was lifted to the crowds; to her betters, yet never to her family and long- time friends. All she had; all she had as far as friends went, were a few faces that had stood by the nominated ruler of the Eternal Snowy Barrens' side since her mock- coronation. The council members of her elite party (as far as the Norse- lander's politics went,) were comprised of those faces who Ava's mother Reia Wulfsmund had known personally during her time in Ava's shoes. And in a sense, there was not much space left for the twenty-one-year-old offspring of the snowy priestess's to fill.

She had aged to reach a steady twenty one, yet in body she remained at the age of nineteen forever -for this was the age she'd been when the teen had first taken her crowned rule entirely, seriously.

The Raven- Winged were overseers of the forest and mountain ranges that surrounded the Eternal Plane for many decades -across the divide. The Aurora Realm was a plane attached to this one, only it was not ruled by anyone -yet protected by a deity and wise spirit being known as Grandmother Aneiu of the Far Northern world.

She was not as Ava was; with a human or daemon's features or skin, instead she was of beast and a spirit akin to the earthen sphere of creation -as olden as the creations myths of this land came.

She could occasionally take up the appearance of a spirit with a hybrid human to animal form, yet she chose to have her pack mate Aneius and daughter Small Paw do this for her. (In one arc this was the case, Ava had Aneiu's pack's aid in their fight against Hati and Lilu. She did not hope one day to lose faith in Ava; Ava's powers had come to reach their very peak; and with the help of Christopher Jean (Ava's only friend from within the castle's walls where she was currently staying put,) the twenty one year old Raven Winged's daughter had learned a great deal about the importance of ice and snow on any set environment. As such as this mysterious void in time had lived peacefully knowing it could continue to revive from the ashes. (The barrens' was a wasteland that Ava revived by her return to the land as its' overseer and high seer (just like Reia.)

~Humans have forgotten what it means to seek the chill of winter.~ Ava had been told once by the wise Aneiu. ~It is our job to control nothing, yet to expect only the balance to be as it should with the guidance of those beings the humans- as they can no longer see with their own eyes what true balance feels like. ~

Spirit beings were of the many Spirit Divides. Still, they did not pry into the lives of humans unless their world or the spirit world faction were at stake. Ava was that bridge between the realm of mortal and god. She had the power to slip between those cracks in the canvas; woven together, and by the abilities of a sacred vassal such as Reia had been before she'd croaked out in her last, dying breath.

Ava was Reia's lone successor; a lone spirit with her kingdom to foresee to her growth and absolute devotion to this plane in which she lead into war, or towards a peaceable means.

Ava was once the child of a human who had been marked by the dragon Roku back on Earth. She'd been born to watch over his children who would become the guardians of the Golden Dawn; the fire bird or the Phoenix of a past she could not enter to see for herself had cemented its prophetic desires unto her siblings... Ava was to the moon, the stars, the waters' deep depths of creation, the void….Though never a part of the glittering sun. Her eyes were cast away from its glare as easily as an evil eye's barer. The sun could make her lose every ounce of her power. It sapped her of the energy she'd awoken to upon her rebirth into the living world. Ava was unable to return to Earth during the warm season of summer. She'd given that up at the cost of far more…

Due to this accursed result born by her own inhibitions, Ava had lost control and great harm had befallen her brother Aiden Grayson back on Earth the last time they'd teamed up.

His powers at only fourteen had awakened _because_ of Ava's scrambling. Of HER desire to know about her past. Not long after her parents had come rushing to the rescue, she'd fallen victim to the Succubus Lilith's wants for a takeover. A return to Earth with her own evil plans, as the succubi devil had plans to strip Ava of her freedom. As if she'd already just had Ava in the palm of her hand…It was an awful memory the princess had hoped would die along with those days set in the mid-day sunshine….

Ava did not know how to address her own troubles here on this plane. And once she'd left to study its magic which no longer limited the progression of her own skill -it was a dreadful challenge once she'd left her home on Earth for good.

The one called Christopher Jean had been overtaken by a god's son named Hati from the Norse myth of the sun and moon in the second chapter of her story (New Gen, older arcs!) Manu; was who this god believed Ava was, or Freya. Both had the powers of natural forces, yet Ava was unaware of what the daemon had truly been looking for -Later, Lilith had crashed the party. Still, that Hati jerk-wad was so cautious as to have waited and impersonated the form of a younger Odin to gain the support of the council in which Ava looked to for protection. Chris was no longer held hostage, though after, he had also gained a new alter-self as a result of the over shadowing process.

They'd all been tricked by Hati of the eternal lands. Hati had reigned over Ava's kingdom, creating a rift between she and her family who had come to free the princess. She'd even fled to find help on earth with the help of those who had also been able to attempt an escape from the lonely barren's Capital. Now, she had to control her temper as it was colder than an average world's frost-bitten season.

Ava had fled to earth to find her younger brother Aiden; who's solar strength from the Dragon of the golden dawn had only grown stronger after he had cast out the Dragon Roku from their world in a previous chapter (these new years?) He wasn't much help after Ami had been drained of her magic; only Lady Hel's craftiness and Henry Vanderbilt's promise had saved the girl from a near death experience.

It was supposed to be a happy time, yet no celebration came too soon as Ava had gotten to reunite with her siblings before heading to her new castle in the mountains. Her appearance to them wasn't as the old Ava they had known. She was colder, more focused on the impending dangers that humans could not bother to comprehend on a daily level. The north had made her stronger, yet it had called forth her spirit to be tested on every level. Her wit and knowledge meant nothing to the princess as the vast wilderness that was her home in the Barrens of the far Northern Divide, held its own dangers that only the princess had yet to navigate. Her magic had overtaken her; her will was to the snowy peak. Her heart to this icy desert land.

She'd lost control of her powers back in the spirit divide once she, her siblings, and the newer Teen Titans and Young Justice had gone face first through that open portal's doorway. Now, she had to keep searching; It was obvious that she held some promise here to this council and its world's inhabitants. Reia had entrusted Ava with not only her realm's protection, yet with memories from Reia's own heart and spirit. Ava was starting to believe that she was not the child of Reia, yet her _incarnation_ born by the remainder of Reia's power surviving an onslaught one cold winter (She'd seen a vision of a magical orb which Reia had entrusted all her left-over power to.) That she had lived within that Raven Winged seer's womb and had not made her way out at all -yet had been reborn by a stoke of good fortune and by the priestess's last dying wish…Magic, reincarnation maybe?

She suddenly, felt empty inside.

It had led to a place where Ava's secret had been revealed to everyone; that she couldn't control her powers at all! But she had!.. She **had** lived…

Now, she had the respect of her allies and once- adversary Chris; who was back to normal thanks to Ava's powerful magic and her brother's Chosen aura (if that made any sense to a normal mortal back on earth.) Then again, Ava and her family were anything BUT normal. She'd appeared right around the time that Aiden and Anna had been brought into the world. Yet she'd come to lie with her family once Ami had been there to see into her big sister's eyes; it was a trip to Kyoto. Ami had been spotted by a random individual who'd coined her 'the sun child of light.' Thinking this to be an awkward thought, Ava let it go with a cloudy, visible breath out into the frozen, open air.

Still, the snow fell down onto her country's many thatched roofs in piles as Ava sighed once more from up against her perch. A black bird keeping warm indoors, the snow was a comfort as this mystic winter kept Ava Marie's powers strong and in tip - top working shape. She had to be in case the council today brought anymore news of the next looming threats to come -whether by air or by sea.

~I'm living out my days as a warrior princess inside a fairytale.. Not how anyone including my parents expected me to go out and live my life. ~

She turned away from the cool breeze as it passed over a strand or two of her silver and lavender locks. She'd never grown them back out after she'd left her home on earth behind for good. Her shoulder length was enough for now, and she'd fought well without those pesky flecks getting in her way so far. Even while she'd trained harder than anyone under her old friend and teacher, Ava's confidence with the sword was something she did cherish in her time spent amid the castle's great keep.

Christopher could magically embody three forms when need be the case; Of Christopher Jean from Earth, as Hati's wolven form made his very own, and of his soldiering self as Christopher ; the sworn bodyguard and protector of the Barren's beloved Lady Ava Wolfsmund.

She refused to be called a princess. Ava huffed. A decent 'Your Highness ' was ok at times of crisis, yet Ava did not wish to isolate herself from the Barrens' people; they were no less or more important to her than the land was to every breathing organism she came into contact with through the child's very spirit. Her journey still wove on among this plane. Her time would continue here..

Christopher Jean had sworn an undying oath to Ava. Hell, they'd attempted to stop Roku together, and had even saved a few souls on their undying quest –

~Malady?~ Ava turned to her right and saw a blue faire-creature with wings of bluebells and boundless hope for a morning's waking springtime to come again.

It was the beloved fae, May bell. Ava smiled and was relieved it had not been another monster creeping up from behind.

No, no. May was one of the very few allies Ava had stuck around with; during her fight with Lord Hati, as the small sprite had not only been a hero as well. She had also been accompanied by a Swedish bear deity of the mountains and forests who was off keeping the peace in her own neck of the woods in some other void elsewhere.. Why was May here all so suddenly? What about the Shifter Imp Prince of the realm of the Good Wood she'd been engaged to back when..? The mysterious Forbidden Forests to the west? Was something not alright?..

~You seem blue as a tulip, my dear!~ The bright - eyed pixie frowned by how Ava's thoughts had been planted elsewhere. She could tell these things well, sometimes.

~I am, just thinking…~ Ava nervously laughed; forcing her doldrums to the side as she easily replied;

~May; you've come such a long way, what is it? Is the Shifter Prince alright? ~ She asked this politely with an edge of concern in her passive tone.

~My darling is well, thank you for asking. ~ May shook her head before gasping out; having recalled why she'd teleported by her magic circle (Fairies, who can't call _that_ crafty!) ~Yet you should be very, very aware! Has Kawra not told you? (Kawra is a crow totemic spirit who is familiar with Aneiu and her pack. There are other characters as well. Crows have the medicine of law of sorts; the law in not as Raven's magic however. I would have though Hel might have been the first to let you in on the horrid events-

~Calm down, May. ~ Ava rushed up to her ally as the gal looked pale as a spook. Paler than her usually bright-eyed self. Something had gotten to her friend…Why was May the one to push the envelope?

~You…. You and I must flee from here! Right now! They are-

A rattling wasn't far off as the floors rumbled. They started off as a clatter of lamps to the doorways – until those torches clattered themselves to pieces!

Ava shouted out a spell to stop the broken glass from hitting she and her frightened elder ally. May was an immortal being. She'd not even aged a year by her rate of healing and living on as a snowdrop to a dewy, new spring season.

~What was the danger you came to warn me about! -

~That you…HAVETOWAKEUP!~

/

Ava, _was_ up.

Layered in a cold, icy sweat she turned on her side table's lamp as the oil let the flames of a good night be undone. Chris had to not be far from her doorway. She heard something else from that dream…It had to be an enemy; the one who had infiltrated her own just now. Ava looked to her tallest wardrobe in times of crisis. She swung her legs over the side of her bed and started towards the towering, wooden spectacle. It had belonged to a great king once before, to even Reia as Ava had soon learned upon her move into the castle's main domain. This tower was set for any queen who required a peaceful setting (one all her very own,) away from the fabulous world that awaited her down below.

She plucked out from the wardrobe everything she'd need to stay strong and protected; a blade and a set of bow and arrows, her cloak that had her powers in check if need be (A gift from Skadi as to her role in the coldest of mountain peaks,) then was the larger add- ons as she gulped and tugged out her dearest companion from its scabbard.

Ava's hair was short enough to keep at her sides. She had her boots, her belt and every item she could fight back against this nightly invader with. She also had her amulet of power. It was a relic passed down to the unofficial princess by Lady Raven-Winged Reia. Ava had come to appreciate it. It led her towards her answer, of who she wanted to become for the sake of everyone- but to she, it was a destined fate she had no longer the need to fight back against.

This new enemy however, was! She sheathed her sword to her hip and decided it was time to call in this realm's best tracker.

~_Chris…I need your help! ~_

In a brush of wind and sleet from up by her window pane, the spectral being known as the Phantom -born spirit wolf had appeared. He was larger than an average beast of this wintery divide. His body was almost formless and as transparent as tulle to a woman's own wardrobe in Paris of another era..

~_Your desire to have me by your side tonight, is great. What seems to be the trouble, Malady? ~_

~It is an intruder. ~ Ava brushed aside his words; as to Ava, they might have come from another emotion the snow queen kept buried deep inside her breast. He still cared for her as Chris, though she held his leash back tightly for now…

~_Of what origin? Were you harmed at all by it?_?~ Chris became the white princess's obedient guard dog as he snarled loudly at the air surrounding his queen to be. Her eyes did not change. Just as his transformation would soon leave him powerless once again. He was too loyal, yet reckless by his devotion to his beloved childhood friend having come between the two before...

~I am going to contact Aluehainyu of the Eternal Sector. ~ Ava told her companion quickly, before heading for her bedroom door in a flash. ~The castle is again infiltrated, though I still don't-

As the door widened a crack, Ava saw with her own eyes the miasma floating about; as toxic smog there and present, meant to kill every last creature…. But…

~A…_Asleep_? ~ Ava saw the guards' states as she tossed a piece of cloth before enchanting it with a flick over her mouth and nose (Covid-relatable. I'm saying that caution is best I suppose.)

Chris was not visible enough; so that the smog could not breach his hide well, he could continue to fight alongside Ava in this way. That was a great relief to them both. He walked on behind Ava as she tip-toed carefully past every attendant, cook, maid, you name it -just to reach the lower level of the princess's enormous castle.

~_What_ could have done this? ~ Ava asked Chris as he took to allowing her to ride on his back; oh, yet for a quicker way through the dense, purple fog. Nothing more as she blushed by his forward thinking (yes, she is an adult, It's ok to add a bit of fluff into this right?)

But…Fog…It was…. Purple?

~_A demon from the under-realms, maybe._ ~ Chris answered as they fazed through the floors, walls, and ceilings of the great palace. ~I was having a dream where May had come to warn us about something.~ Ava paused before continuing;

~ AS if someone maybe like who's attacked the castle is who she was trying stop, you think that's it? ~ Ava wondered to herself this theory and spoke it her partner softly, as the sleeping staff only increased – while the bodies piled up in mounds around the only surviving two within the now truly haunted castle...

~_You and I must be mindful; this place is a trap meant to lure in any unsuspecting._ ~ Chris ruffed* in his wolf form. ~_Those without power are being manipulated_. ~ Chris was right, as Ava looked with a fearful set of eyes over the children, men, women and animals here…They were all _sleeping_!

/

As Ava battled it out in another dimension built of ice and snow, the autumn affair in down town Tokyo had gotten much warmer as far as Richard Grayson, could honestly tell by how caught up in the ruckus they'd gotten…

Kori was nowhere to be found. Kaede was amiss too…

So…Where were the rest of-?

As he leaned to his side, something did seem off. Richard's wrists were bound by what looked to be swirling blood red cuffs. A binding…. A magical being had been to blame! Right…The garage lot …. The airport…

~_It's all coming back so soon, but why am I the only-_

~It's been a long, _long_, time. Cowardly hero. Has it not? ~

Richard looked up. Staring down was a bat creature- a being that had a man's face, though never his inhuman charm. He was upside down and perched in a bat's pose; with his vulgar feet clinging to the roof of the garage lot. Richard narrowed his eyes and squinted to see by the glare in his own way. The bat….Was the one that had attacked Kori and impersonated Kaede…

~**Charl**...~ Dick grimaced at what the daemon had become since Manifesto's destructive –

~Fear me not. For it is not _I_ you should be afraid of. ~ Smirking, the bat winged being laughed haughtily over its capture; he had only just become a true villain after Lao Ming had died during Marcus's lax crusade …. Still, if that wasn't why he hadn't been destroyed here…Then why was he back in the flesh?

~Sorry, are those cuffs on too tight? ~ The winged warlock seemed to easy to pity his prisoner out of the blue; he was a shifter by his turned past, as Richard kept his eyes averted from the demon's own two beady orbs. If Charl had any tricks up his sleeves of black and hollow, he had better watch out. Dick had an ace somewhere too. If only Shoji were around, he thought to himself. He had to try to be a bit like Raven for now… Though Dick had always had trouble being too emotional as a hero before. Was Charl going to read him that easily?

~Heavens, _I_ tried to make you more comfortable; of all my captives though? Ah… It was the fox girl who was the most **infuriating** of you lot. Non! She was a real demon, herself!~

The demonic bat-male turned up his nose at the very mention of Kaede's race; of the Kitsune clan she'd been born under since her very first 'creation date.' Dick kept silent. He had nothing to add to the conversation. Sadly, Charl had been granted his time to cope and had mourned to the point of going absolutely mad. It looked to be the case here by how demented the cretin was still since he'd gone batty after Manifesto had been defeated. True; his body as tall as a gargoyle's built, yet it was as lanky as a skeleton's structure...

He looked to be stuck in that form. Though the _real_ Charl was a two faced pretty boy from olden France with a terrible taste for art. (Manifesto pages arc. He was turned as a shifter imp and had caused a lot of mayhem for the heroes we know to be struggling once again by his impish charm. Yup, even now into the future.*)

~No good, she was a hoodlum…Ah, and that lovely dove of yours..-

"Where. Is. Kori…." Dick growled to the demon. Keeping it low under his breath, the feeling of his chest tightening at the sound of her name as he spoke it with such aggression would have cut that devil in his sights down a peg -had he known telekinesis like a certain Titan…

Charl flapped off to the side to avoid that 'scathing' glare from the captured ex-hero. Richard was some times overly - protective to the point of losing his head, quite literally over a woman this time. Kori was his strength, he could not back off so easily.

Charl smirked and decided to pick at that wound a bit longer. Just until his assistant came to do its' part…heh..

~Loyal pup, I've not harmed a _hair_ on your dear partner's scalp! Non, Mon Ami! **What** sort of villain do you take me for!~

"A **real** chatty one."

~_Hah_! Says you, monsieur bird-boy.~ The demon put its hands to its hips; ~That wouldn't cut it for me, alive or dead as I am to my kindred spirit back home. You will only continue to await your fate I'm afraid.. As it…Is **too** late to change anything -

"_**RRRaah**_!" Richard could move again as he swung out at Charl; until the demon waved a finger to bind his captive's legs to the ground. Dick avoided colliding his jaw into the concrete block below him. Had he not used his arm to shield himself from the deep wounding it would have created against his cheek, dear daddy might have come to his senses with a shattered collarbone the next morning. The last thing he wanted was to be useless to his team and the group Young Justice he, Cy and Black Canary had weaned for far too long…They could not lose all hope. He was going to fight it out…

~By the gods above, _please_ just accept your fate, **already**!...~ Charl groaned and rubbed his temples as Dick _still_ struggled onto his now possibly shattered limb. His arm was sore but tomorrow, it would be burning if he didn't get to the med lab. It was nearly in need of being set; had this actually been the case, though it was close to what could be!... He'd gotten lucky -but for _how_ long would this lucky streak prevail, unless Charl was hoping to have the young man before him sold off for a pretty penny to some killer or immortal from his world?

He couldn't stick around to find out. Kaede and Kori were somewhere and THIS weirdo wasn't singing like a canary (as Dick had expected most henchmen to be pros at the 'art of a decent mimicry' and of their so- called employers.)

Maybe not. Maybe, he _had_ gone solo? Likely not; by how he was waiting to have someone here…Huh, as if this were thee Dick Grayson; the pre - seasoned prize of a demon who had the lowest understanding of human empathy off the _**face**_ of the Earth! _What_ a let down…

~_At least Slade doesn't have a hit on Nightwing to fulfill. I'd be dead or hung if that ever came to pass.~_ He shuddered at how well Slade Wilson's numerous 'kills' had been categorized. They were all stored under the Bat computer's file system of elite baddies that the famed Justice League had fought more than a dozen times. The man was too iconic in his prime right now. So, Dick counted his mortal blessings that this villain who'd swiped him up was such a crack pot. Ironic..

~I'd rather not even see his face until I'm dead and buried. Not today! I'm getting back to them. Ami was waiting….I feel like shit…aah, I'm supposed to be that…er…a _respectable_ parent to my own kid….Blew it big time, Grayson…~

Then again, Richard was blaming himself to the very core….for everything!

~My little jest did nothing to him. See? Overshadowing that trouble maker was a waste! Oh, whoa is me!...~

Charl shuddered as a figure crept out from beneath his skin, a partly clothed being known to some as the Greek God aspect of Blame.

"Momus is what they call me, earthen one! You are in for a trip to our neck of the woods. And your poor sweetheart-

~AH!~ Swishing his winged self about the air, Charl rebuked;

~Keep your lips sealed this instant! WE have no right to reveal the plans of our providing –

"She's my sister, idiot. ~ The reveal was of the person taking another appearance to mind. He transformed before Richard's eyes as his modern appearance was less provocative than the robed jester he'd come out to be from the daemon Shifter's own ribcage.

~Overwhelming me was your biggest error, idiot!~ Charl grunted as the being before him had the appearance now of one a slight bit older than Ava Marie's standing age of twenty one. His get up had an adult attitude to how he leaned casually back with his hands intertwined behind his head. Playful as a chimp, or hapless as the chump floating beside this god figure. Dick considered this a very un-funny slap -stick routine; a poor attempt by the two male entities who's own fates had been previously sealed by their mysterious employer. They were not getting along which meant that the real ring leader had their wills tied to this one job. If they failed, would Dick have reason to call them out? He'd be on this new character's list of people to whack. Not that Nightwing wasn't used to having a wide target along his spine every waking day of the week.

~Now, tell us where you are hiding the god child of the eclipse?-

~Not yet, you dolt!~ Charl snarled back at the loose- lipped deity of blame and shame. Momus buttoned his lips as if by a forbidden spell. ~I was not aware you'd done much here then, impling-

~Argh…Nothing but laughing crows I harbor at my beck and call. The queen is impatient! I want you to do the rest. Can you?~

Momus tilted his head to the side as Richard sighed by his own shortcomings.

~I can pry at him, pick around to find the location. They were once bound by the pact the Chosen now shares in…Another light.~ The sneaky deity brought out his arm as Richard groaned by an ever growing migraine….

~I….Screwed up..~ Came his thoughts, as Momus grinned at his fine successes. ~Charlie? You can go. ~ The deity smiled up to the flapping imp in a devil's true body. ~I know where to look…~

/

Never get stuck in your own thoughts. Ami hadn't a clue if this room was a den or a chamber while Hecate loomed over both she and Gregory. He looked, anxiously back; hoping for a way back soon before any more suffering could come to the remaining Guardian dogs. But if this was a plan to keep the two preoccupied, then it wasn't possibly –

~Didst' thou spake with thee deity Eternal relic of Darkness, Lady Dark? ~ Hecate started to ask as Greg was pulled away from his inner thoughts awhile. Lady Darkness was created beside a Lady Light in the effort to contain the two forces. A balance had been lost and Hecate's only option was to enlist a powerful sorcerer from an alternate realm by the name of Clow. He had the magic she needed to aid in her plight and as a result, the two women were born by that ageless attempt.

Darkness was however not able to keep her form after a certain time had passed. Hecate preserved the relic all she could , yet she'd tried to have a successor once her time on the Underworld's plane had been nigh. Cecilia had turned by her forbidden desire to see the deceased Alicia Daia again. Her only vassal remaining was….Either Cecilia should she be redeemed, or Vespa of the Elemental origins of the Dark and of shadows to the human soul. She was a trickster though and unpredictable. That was why Hecate had sent the dog of he forbidden arts to train under Chronos for a time. As his Death – aspect, and to understand empathy for she did not very well know of emotions and hearts working as one…

Vespa was a cold woman; a soldier and a blood relative of the Guardian dogs themselves. She had a home on Earth though would stay in only one place for only so long. She preferred the life she lead to a degree that had made the fighter a not – so – sober face throughout her unit. She had, a habit of only drinking when she had someone to impress and could fully attack her foes without hesitation. She cared for her cousin Kay and Ron, made her wary at times. He was too good, while Kay had some extra ills he'd buried deep down inside. However, Veravakumu was her rival of the many elemental hounds. She had the same faction, ran it to the ground like a champ, yet he still had all the credit. The Chosen made her unwell. It was the solar dog Kaien she though hated the very most for having the attitude of an uncultured gigolo.

Vespa was, a live wire and Hecate had her doubts over whether the candidacy should be revoked by both women. Maybe another three hundred year long search more? Hecate didn't have much time remaining in her role as an overseer of the Under realms' Hades. She had spoken to Lady Hel, who was actually younger than the unaged deity of witches. They shared common views of today's changes as well. Isis however, was her dear friend sine the beginning.

They'd had their normal quarrels between goddesses who'd kept to their own sects and regions; with the exception of a few flawed individual deity worshipping princes (Who'd caused chaos and tensions to run between those capitals known as Egypt and Greece,) then they'd been well situated for what was to become of their realms of existence.

Rather, what had transpired years later and into today's present time line…

Hecate however, could not accept these momentous changes among the spirit sects. Nor could she understand the newest, modernized plethora of plights man's world had to offer. It was maybe a woman's intuition by her role as a three fold deity of the lunar sect -or as a woman who'd had only one life to lead until she'd been reintroduced to the modern days of today. Isa had expected things to be as difficult as she'd left them; to her past, she had survived the hollowed wreckage by living on in books and stories from the kingdoms in which she had claimed her own.

In this modern day, still a woman had to fight for both equality and the right to a specific happiness. She didn't just gain her life all in order to waste away with nothing to show but the chest and her pride she carried. She had the material, the will, the strength and the spirit that was only akin to humans. Never, one gender alone could own this assortment of rites for one had to toil in order to earn respect in EVERY ERA.

So, the realm of Ami's was new though nothing unique or out of the ordinary to the lunar goddess; who'd seen the god Izanagi when the deity had been smitten by another of the god's own kindred allegiance. As Hecate knew, time never stopped. Along its delicate path were roads one could cross with ease; though any traveler was to know-

~The block where the Gorgons were once housed has been opened wide.~

Gregory lowered his head to consider the news. ~I see. So, you brought those who'd taken to your invitation here. Yet, did you know we'd be arriving?~

~I in fact did not at first. The shock was sudden, Wizarding fool.~ The deity paused to watch Ami as she scrunched up into her shirts ; messily trying to figure out if this was her time to talk or not. She was feeling feverish as well, which alerted the goddess with a small smile that the child did need attention if she were to refrain from vanishing from this plane forever.

The goddess rose slowly and walked over to her youngest guest with a palm opened. A cup or rather…A strange shell of a fruit appearing in her palm towards the weary Ameila Grayson's frame.

~I'll need a second myself, though do tell me.~ Gregory tipped his hat back as Hecate soon added in;

~This girl houses thee influence of the Sun's dear child; Amaterasu of the Eastern Divide in what is called…Japan today. ~ She had not an ordinary pewter cup, though the fruit juice of the famed pomegranate in her palms. Gregory jolted up though Hecate stopped him with a wave of her other wrist. ~She'd be no use to either of her kin if made Immortal now. She has only to drink the nectar of this fruit in order to return herself from the brink of death. Then you are well with this answer?~ She asked the child's current guardian; hoping he'd answer back quickly, though he did nod at least. The goddess tipped back Ami's burning jaw and allowed the liquid to find its way down her parched throat.

~There, child.~ Ami blinked and groggily tried to speak, though coughed a little instead as Hecate wafted off back to her seat within the small room.

~That was…fruity…Was I ok?~ Ami turned to Greg as she burped up a little; thanks to the acid in that magic Apple of Eden.

~I…Had only believed the myth to be purely about the season's turning..~ Greg was amazed by the power of the fruit's liquid. It's seeds were another; the way Persephone had been forced to stay with Hades whence her time to go had come again every season. Her mother Demeter was of the autumn grain. Persephone was a flaxen maiden with a side to her all but innocent since those days (Arteus from The Forbidden Myth Arc from my Wattpad story. He was a messenger and sorcerer to the sect of the oracles of both Greece and Rome so he had a knowledge about this sort of topic) when spring's embrace had been nearly non- existent. When times had brought man to his knees. As Hecate towered over the daemon guardian ally, Ami sipped her juice with a coy glance; peeking from under her partner's wide brimmed, warlock's hat. Greg let out a raspy sigh before complying with the two's underworld hostess.

~Then you are not our adversary; nor was it your intent on bending the will of the current chosen. Then, why? ~

~It was all to protect them, always. ~ Hecate answered quietly while she retrieved the fruit cup from her newest muse. Ami licked her lips carefully and turned to Greg with her brows furrowed. Perplexed by why the goddess was confessing something this late, that was rather obvious by now. A flashback of how Hecate had tried to take Aiden back to the realm of the gods to be tested before any harm could befall his heart…

He'd held on to a dark side; it had been as annoying as Rouko or Roko; the two aspects of the Prince Rokuro or Richard Ainsley of the past. Though he hadn't survived….

Apep; the serpent had devoured the aspect, taking away a part of Aiden's mortality with it. Without light and darkness, the kid could be wiped out. That was why everyone worried by how close he'd become with the former red dragon before his turning under the ex- goddess Lilu.

Aiden was a human without a shadow. He was an easier target for all sorts of criminal monsters now as a full- fledged (almost) solar titan. Anna had to watch her back as well. Her fires raged on from her emotions, unlike Aiden's – as he'd sealed up his magic to avoid another problem like before.

Ami was supposed to e his guardian, her light wasn't strong enough since a piece of it had been lost back in Ava's world (Ok! So, in the arc where the heroes went to save Ava's kingdom, Ami almost yes…Died because of a lacking Vit D element of the realm. It almost left her two steps closer to the door of a certain witch goddess called Hel. She however, knew of the children's plight and used the form of Henry Vanderbilt's rabbit aspect to strengthen Ami's life force a while. Ami is under the title of a Goddess so she is constantly reliving Amaterasu's pain whenever the sun goes down. She embodies more than just her power, yet she has to be extra careful now that her state is becoming fragile with time. Though, as she gets more accustomed to the ways of a Japanese sorcerer's ways, she'll learn that her condition isn't bound to do her in as long as she knows how to control the energies she holds deep inside. Once she has all of Amaterasu's memories much later though, she'll not have a choice since the goddess has chosen Ami to eventually replace her as head of the sect one day. Is she going to be able to turn down something so important to save her own time as a mortal on earth? Remember! Spirits become gods in this story arc set by aging and growing as Tsukiyume did, as Sayumon, and as Greg is seemingly trying to work his way up the tier. Kaien as well or Solario has the title still as the god Apollon. So, where does that leave a mortal born to a normal life here on earth? Find out!)

Ami bit her lip and turned to her new ally to speak up on her siblings' behalf. That included poor Ava too.

~Is Aiden really going to under-

~He's not to know, yet he may as well at this point. If I were to become as Isa.~ Shrugged the goddess as she went to seat herself opposite the young fourteen-year-old.

~Amelia, you don't have to bring that up right now. ~ Greg tried to ask Ami in his own subtle way, if she could drop the topic? Ami made a face next to taken aback and just plain disappointed by her friend's loyalty. ~Greg! Dad wasn't ok with her being too close, but what about-

~Aiden is the least of our worries as of now, my child. ~ Hecate tried to reason with the girl. ~The newest threat to both worlds is in fact a former Goddess of Chaos. You both now know, yet I have reason to believe that she no longer wrks alone; her intentions are still only just in the open. Hades had ordered guards to protect the Eternal gate ways. ~ AS she explained of the horrific side effect that had shattered the Celestial realms' doorways apart before, Ami seemed to get that the grownups had other things to consider besides her brother's physical state.

As she drank in this in, Ami could not help but ask where in the world she'd ended up. This was a deity's private room, with urns and mirrors, vases and spectacles only the eyes could enjoy upon ones' dying hour. She had evaded her day's end with the help of a goddess of both time and of the unnatural or unknown to those with wandering eyes.

~Then this is what we must have if you ever wish to free that child from the other side's control-

~She chose this path-

Ami blinked and returned to listening to the grown ups' discussion. One name had her jaw though soon agape;

~Ceilia Daia is no longer on our side, should she prove that she is in fact still worthy of the title I intend to bestow upon her, then she'll be forgiven. ~ Greg's eyes were full o remorse for the child he'd once also aided in keeping on the straight and narrow. However, something else had driven Cici to lose control of her craft and powers once again. She was capable of bringing the moon to touch mountain tops; Hecate had tried to coax both she and her mother to comply for ages since the day of that child's birth. Hecate, like Amaterasu would have chosen a vassal or one to follow in her footsteps. Yet Ami was not as the brooding Cecilia was fated to become. She'd become a wild, rogue figure in the night. Hecate had been too kind, while the strict regimen of the Crescendo daughter's own rites had left her hollow inside, unable to cope with knowing those on the outside any longer. She'd lifted the veil on that act, speaking that the council was to blame partly for her isolated state.

Ami felt sorry for Cici once, though knew that she had a darker demeanor now than even Aunt Rachel as Raven Roth of the Titans.

Cici had to be stopped before her actions took hold and caused a waterfall -spiraling of events to follow along with her example of what the anti- hero possibly might have believed to be…

Revenge. Though, for what?

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Oh Ok! _**Soooo**_; the whole thing is that Eris is building an army and spreading fear, fairly obvious if you look at the state of Japan right now in this arc.

As for the pandemic slip up with not adding masks? Well, the characters know to wear them, but the description isn't what I am after to keep you guys guessing. They are on the faces of the people, just use your imagination and let the rest fall into place I suppose. Ami is now fourteen but still gets mistaken for being younger due to her height not adding any inches _juust_ yet. I'm going to base her sixteen-year-old self as a character (by her fashion sense only) as a character from an anime I'm still dying to watch (not a short list of things unseen by these eyes, even during a global shut down we in the USA have yet to experience 'properly.' A long vacation, I can dig it!) Yep, and Haru is the youngest kit in her cult, so she's taking to keeping both Ami AND Kaede in check. Poor Yumi, she's got a house full of bickering teenage girls. Perfect!

Cici was corrupted by some undead emotional memories; she had a thing for her sibling Alicia because sun and moon? A bit too touchy, though Cici is ruthless in trying to see to Lisa Viscado getting the picture. While Agatha is with Isa and her protectors in another country into the present day, Eris is planning to run that prophetess out into the open eventually. Slade is now under Cici and Eris's power; he just wanted to do like any night worker in the world. Go home after a long day and pass out on the sofa! Right? Nope. Slade's back and things are going to stay as hairy as Medusa's gradually graying roots.

Raku tried to pull a fast one on Aiden since they are connected by an undying pact for life -and that is why the blonde's parents are trying to keep the peace miles away from California. Raven to the rescue? Apparently, Rachel Roth has been keeping tabs on the dilemma overwhelming her **almost** grown nephew. She tries to intervene after Gus pushes the call button and Rae comes around with fire at her heels. Cyborg is where though? The young justice of today? Is Dami going to go toe to toe against a mind-controlled Slade Wilson; A.K.A Deathstroke The Terminator. The eighties much…Huh…

AN-Y-Way!... The clock is ticking at mach speed for our heroes to piece all of these events together. Is Eris after more than just a grand welcome by the human race? Is she really there to conquer and destroy the plane of the earthen of today's time line? Quite a mouthful, but I'm happy to say that my condition was found as possibly (by the third it will be decided if I go to Mayo Clinic or not,) a Crohn's Ileitis Stricture – I think the bile in my stomach is one liitttle itty bitsy factor but the doc says nope. It was there on three endoscopies and one large bowel look around so that's possibly why I had my gallbladder dunso when I couldn't eat. It was always there but misdiagnosed numerous times by even a NYC doctor…I hate our healthcare system but mostly, we have dated tech, knowledge, and overall doctors who don't have great bedside manners unless you bite your tongue and go with it. So, lesson will be, no dairy, no gluten because those ae very hard to ingest. At last there was a way to decide my fate, so let's continue and see what becomes of our unlikely, young heroes!

Sounds cheesy, but I'm coming out of a long slump. This is running along, so look forward to another chapter on Wattpad of the Forbidden/Forgotten myth arc. I have left that one wide open due to log in errors…. On mobile, boo.

So read on, don't touch that mouse and look forward to another thrilling chapter from The Chaos Round Part One! Stay curious?


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